Allure and Darkness
by Tamuril Telrunye
Summary: It was just suppose to be a simple stop- dot your I's and cross your t's right? Nothing in her life could ever be easy, even when she took a desk job. Because I haven't seen any novelizations of RE: Revelations, here's mine. Extra character because I felt some things needed to change, romance only if you squint hard. Some ChrisXJill in later chapters.
1. Prologue

A/N: Because I haven't seen any novelizations of RE: Revelations, here's mine. Extra character because I felt some things needed to change, romance only if you squint hard. I've gone through and rewritten a great deal because quite frankly this was a mess when I published it originally. In my defense I wrote this whole fic in a week with very little sleep.

 **Updated 2/1/2017**

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Prologue**

Dedicated to women of every race, creed, birth, orientation and designation. You are beauty, and grace envisioned. Don't ever let anyone make you believe otherwise.

 _Prologue_

 _There's a girl at the beginning_

 _of every story_

 _and she's all wide-eyes-and-innocence,_

 _truth in a glass cage,_

 _a diamond before the pressure is applied…_

 _-Allure of Darkness_

* * *

The ship was a real tip, I'll tell you that much- not that I've been on many cruise liners in my day, but the Queen Zenobia? She was a tip. Oh she still had some of the luster and shine of her old days, but the weather hadn't been too kind to her that was for damn sure- I didn't even know what the hell I was doing here to be honest; the agency didn't generally get called out to cruise ships, and the men on the ship were looking at both me and my partner as if we were two headed goats or something.

I was a paper pusher I wasn't even suppose to be here, and yet here I was on this old decrepit ship set to search the rust bucket for violations, and then we could go home. In theory anyways, this was really suppose to be someone else's job- but I could really be suckered into anything. Amanda was totally getting me coffee for a week over this; I was fairly certain this was violating some law somewhere- but then the ship had been the one to violate marine space of the Mediterranean, we were just here for… Well inspecting? I wasn't sure I was okay with this, but getting fired over not doing something seemed rather silly. Our agency was in charge of maritime environmental inspection, not a riveting job to be sure- our agency usually just checked to make sure the hull of a ship wasn't leaking anything toxic before giving it a good pat and a go- but the Queen Zinobia... That was a lot of hull.

The Queen Zenobia for anyone who didn't know, was a full sized cruise liner formerly of the Paraguas Line company- designed after ships like the Queen Mary. Vast, luxurious and somewhat intimidating, the ship had been sold not long after the Paraguas Line shuttered its doors for good because Raccoon city panic. Not many people realized that Paraguas and Umbrella where the same company really; either way the current owner of the vessel had chosen not to declare that he did in fact exist, or that this ship had any of the proper documentation for travel.

As such our agency was contacted by the maritime law keepers of the nearest country, and we'd had been dispatched because we were really the only people available. We were to search for any obvious flaws in the ship's facilities, demand paperwork from the men aboard the ship and when all was said and done leave. No doubt our bosses were going to push for a fine on the ship's owner, if the man existed- and that would be it. It wasn't unusual really, but the men on the ship were making me a bit jumpy. I was welcomed aboard with my partner, and senior officer Hank by a well dressed man named Royce; and Royce was giving me the creeps if I were really being honest.

No one was happy to get inspected by the high seas health inspectors, but he merely smiled and played along, showing me the paperwork for the men aboard their destination and their cargo manifests, barely batting a pretty blond eyelash at my request for environmental analysis reports. With the fall of Umbrella, people became much more interested in the safety of themselves and their environment, going so far as to create several new agencies, and international laws with those in mind.

My agency was one of them- I was generally placid in nature, and rarely spoke above a low murmur even in pleasant company; a chronic problem that meant I was unsuited to the more excitable careers offered by the BSAA or the FBC. So I'd joined up with MEPA without blinking because barring pirates, I was unlikely be required to learn anything more exciting than scuba diving. Which I could do to be entirely honest, and scuba diving in its own right was pretty exciting- Look the point was that I didn't belong here, because I might have been one of the meanest paper pushers south of the border, but I was not a field agent. I shouldn't even be asking the questions, but Hank was a muscle guy, more prone to a good mean cop impression then a decent bureaucrat.

Shaking my head to clear away the lingering annoyance, and focus my thoughts on the now- and by now I meant the rusted deck of the Queen Zenobia with Royce who was all too quick to answer our questions. It was highly suspect, but I also had a bullshit meter that was great at detecting slippery bastards. It was great for my job actually, you would not believe the lengths some people would go to to slip out of writing up reports. But barring anything major, I couldn't find any obvious holes in this man's explanations.

"You said you have the paperwork I requested?" I asked the man after a brief set of questions, pen moving frantically across the yellow legal pad I'd brought with me. I was making notes about the man's answers in the margins as I doodled, so good at my job, so interested, someone should give me a medal.

"Yes ma'am," He said handing over a manila folder, and I took it opening to the first page; eyeing the blond out of the corner of my eye as I did this, and I caught sight of a man approaching from behind him. He was dressed in a crew outfit and after a few moments of low murmuring in Royce's ear the blond man decided something- from the look in his eye abruptly and approached me again with a smile.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but my men tell me that there may be a storm approaching. If you would like, we can finish up the inspection inside- I'm sure water won't do any of us a favor." Taking a moment to consider this before looking to my escort with a raised skeptical eyebrow, "Well, I'm sure we can schedule this another time if needs be." I said closing the folder- my superiors wouldn't like it, but it would get me out of here and give someone who actually knew what they were doing a chance to handle this.

"No, no, that is not necessary- please." The blond said this time a bit more strained, and his smile turned somewhat sharp at this. "We have a lounge and food available- I am sure you're hungry? Come now, right this way."

Hank and I shared another look as we were ushered into the bridge, and then off down a hallway and towards a brightly polished door. The wood of it was bright and cheerful, oak maybe? The door swung open revealing a nicely furnished room, I took a seat but Hank chose to stand and I let out a half worried hum as the blond man stepped out for a moment to bark orders at a member of the crew. I didn't like this, it smacked of ambush or trouble in general- it certainly wasn't normal, but there was very little I could do at this point. It made no sense to ambush us, neither of us were well known enough to have enemies, something like that wouldn't really benefit anyone.

Perhaps I was just being paranoid- I put it from my mind for the moment, carefully looking over the documents before a sound broke my concentration, loud enough and startling enough to cause us all to jump. I looked to Hank making a gesture before standing, we were leaving.

"I'm sorry but I feel it is in our best interests to cut this short," I said closing the file and setting it down, I pulled a card from my waterproof pouch presenting it to the man. "I will have to ask you to set up a further appointment with our agency at a later date."

"Please, don't let these noises disturb you. It's only construction-" The blond said trying to halt our forward motion toward the door.

"My partner said we were done here." Hank stated, giving the blond an intimidating look. He was a mid-30's ex army lieutenant who before becoming a member of the MEPA spent his time as a private contractor, and his ability to intimidate could be rather impressive. The look proved to be enough to shut the blond up for a moment as we made our way out the door and down the corridor. But when we made our way to the helm room, I paused at the door. I heard shouting, and for a moment I paused trying to identify what or where it might be coming from, pressing my ear to the door I waited. The sudden explosion of sound from the other side made me step back abruptly, the door jolted open, and that momentary hesitation proved to save me from a stray bullet that ricocheted off the heavy metal walls.

Chaos reigned within as the crew seemed to be be fighting with some form of white fleshy creatures- no doubt B.O.W.'s and then I was dragged back by a hand on my wetsuit, as Hank pulled my before slamming the door shut. The blond haired man paled, and looked at us with wide eyes even as my partner turned to him with a nasty look- I was always one more for thought than action, and I had been too busy taking in the details to realize I should have stepped back.

"Is there another way out of here?" Hank asked the blond, but the man seemed for a moment to be in shock. I jumped as something heavy hit the door echoing through the corridor, "IS there another way to the deck!" he barked out grabbing the blond man's lapels and shaking him.

"Yes… yes we can take the back elevator down to the first passenger deck and pass through the hallways and back up-" The blond man said, snapping back to reality finally shaking out of his shell shocked state, "Here, this way."

We followed him at a run straight back to a double doored elevator, waiting anxiously for it to arrive- it of course was an elevator and did not care how anxiously we waited and I jumped slightly when it did surprised by the happy ping it made. Both Hank and I had been in bio-hazard zones before- separately never together, so we knew what to expect. But there was unexpected, and then there was 'one of those days' and this was looking to be exactly that- I should have figured that something like this was going to happen it was a Tuesday, I never could get a hang of Tuesdays.

"Do you have any idea where those things might have come from?" I asked the blond man as the elevator began its descent, but he only gave me a shake of his head. "No strange crates or odd passenger manifests?"

"I'm only a liaison, I've never seen anything like that." He said simply stress warring on his face with uncertainty and worry as he loosened his tie nervously.

"What do you think," I asked hesitantly, looking to Hank- He was my partner for a reason, I mean we did do a very nice good cop bad cop impression, but he was my partner because I despite my previous experiences, was without any really combat ability- unless I had a blunt object, nevermind that I had a gun proficiency because we both preferred that I never have to use it, but this whole thing had gone south fast, and from a completely unexpected quarter.

"Head for the boat, take the stiff and get a hold of HQ." He said nodding at the blond and the man's face held a bit of relief, as if we would leave anyone behind if we could help it. "Don't stop moving until we hit the boat, I've seen B.O.W.s but none like that before. Not eager to find out what they can do."

"Roger that." I said pulling out my sidearm, it was only a small pistol but it would have to do in a pinch- This was why I was a paper pusher man. The elevator pulled to a stop, and the doors opened to reveal a wood paneled well lit hallway. The only really off-putting portion of it would have to be the streak of deep red down the center of the hardwood floor, I threw a worried look at Hank as he stepped out of the elevator ahead of me. A look he either missed or ignored, I wasn't sure which- he was a hard read sometimes.

"No chatter, if we run into someone else we tell them to bunker down- once we get a hold of HQ they can save the survivors." He said finally, "And Red?"

"Yeah?" I answered back, Red as it were was my nickname- and the name I preferred to go by among friends, you would too if your name was an old lady name. Not that there was anything really wrong with it, but getting called Miss-Priss on a regular basis was a little daunting. Besides, my hair was red- it was some long time tradition for redheads to be called red at least once, although he definitely wasn't the first man to do so.

"If you have to make a choice, head for the boat- That's an order." He said pacing down the hallway, and I moved to keep up the blond falling in behind us.

"Head for the boat?" Royce inquired and I looked back over my shoulder, it was clear that he'd never been in this kind of situation before and I let out a sigh.

"If we get separated, we head for the boat-" I said gripping my gun. "We radio HQ regardless- stopping this outbreak takes precedent." It was hard to explain to someone who hadn't been there, hadn't seen what a breakdown in communication cost- what it would cost others if we screwed up.

"Cut the chatter-" Hank said as we rounded a corner, we passed down one hallway opening the door to the next. "Stiff, where exactly are we going?" He asked as we moved through a doorway and into another hall.

"This way, there should be a way through if we pass through the pool deck." He said before adding. "The pool deck has a doorway to the outer decks, and it's closed for maintenance- so we should be able to pass through it without an issue."

The next door opened to a room that overlooked a library, and the first fleshy white creature we couldn't simply dodge. I lurched towards us, face full of long mutated teeth and Hank took a shot at it hitting it in the chest. It barely stumbled, and he kicked it over the railing with a grunt. The sound of splintering wood and breaking bones is not a pleasant one, but I was glad our first encounter at least was over.

The blond directed us towards a door on one side, and we all jumped as the screams of a man rent the air, rushing through the next two hallways as the sound of breaking glass punctuated the eerie silence- sadly in the next room there was nothing but a pool of blood, and what was was left of a man on the floor white creature towering over him. I lifted my gun, and took a shot at it, catching it in the shoulder, and it turned towards me- Hank took shot catching it in the head and the thing finally bowed over into the glass case behind it, destroying a display behind it with a cacophony of shattered glass.

"That's going to draw someone's attention." I said quietly and we hustled across the room into the hallway beyond- only it turned out to not be a hallway at all, as the room opened up into a well lit fancy dining area. It was set as if ready for people to arrive for dinner, but not a person was in sight. Food sat steaming in trays to one end, and there was even a cooked turkey on one table. It was an eerie sight, but I'd seen stranger- and the blond urged us towards a strange door with a handle that resembled a ship's helm on it, into what appeared to be a small anti-chamber and then another door with the same handle design; It took forever to open- for dramatic effect or because the locking mechanism was crap I didn't know.

When this door finally opened I took a moment to observe and appreciate the room beyond, although we moved too quickly to take in all the details. It was a grand ballroom style hall, with a sweeping staircase, and a giant clock set into the far wall. We ignored this however in favor of taking a back staircase up to the third tier of the ballroom, it seemed as though any door leading out of the ballroom held the same helm motif, and we exited the ballroom again into a tiled hallway. We moved across the tiled floor, towards a door set in the wall not far from the diving board, and I paused for a moment to look at the pool proper itself.

Some sort of growth was forming over the edge of the pool, crusting it and creeping along the closest tiles. It didn't look like a normal barnacle formation- or rather, it looked like barnacles on steroids. I nudge Hank and gestured at the pool as the blond fidgeted with the lock on the pool deck door, he was sorting through a ring of keys- not as many as you would expect it seems, as they all appeared to be skeleton keys of some sort. I looked back to the pool and felt my frown deepen; the barnacles seemed to be- for lack of a better term expanding as we watched. I was suddenly keen on not being here for very much longer, because something was definitely not right about this.

"Aha!" Royce said opening the door at last and we moved out the door closing it behind us. He pressed his keys into his breast pocket as we moved along the rusted deck towards the stern, our small boat was hitched there. There were life boats hitched up every couple of yards, above the deck and the outer deck itself was unobstructed all the way to our boat. The rope ladder down sat swaying gently, and a noise made me pause- a very familiar trill that had me dodging even before I realized fully why. A large green mass shot passed me, barreling into the blond man and a resounding snap sounded as the man hit the deck, the hunter began tearing into Royce savagely as both I and Hank opened fire.

It had to be fucking Hunters didn't it- Why was it always Hunters? The lizard like beast collapsed, and I shared a look with Hank before moving out of my shooters stance to check on the him. Checking his pulse, I frowned and shook my head at Hank- the man had been dead the moment the Hunter hit him, perhaps a kinder death then the gaping wounds that his back sustained. I moved to shut his eyes and said a low prayer- it was the only thing I could do for now. After a moment's hesitation I grabbed his keys, they'd fallen out of his pocket- we might find we needed these later, and I looked back up to my partner.

"Behind you!" Hank shouted and I did the stupid thing of course, looking over my shoulder instead of moving and another Hunter barely missing taking a chunk out of me, instead hitting me face first in the shoulder. I went flying over the body towards the stern of the ship, landing with a resounding pop and I let out a shriek. A pain radiated from my shoulder, drowning out the frantic shots taken by Hank or the Hunters squeals as the world seemed to dip and sway around me. The sound of my heart beating overlapped anything else, and for a long long moment all I could do was watch as Hank downed the Hunter. I tried to push myself up, but my arm wouldn't move properly and I awkwardly shoved myself up as another Hunter came into sight.

They were hopping down from above- how they got there I could only guess so. My gun had been knocked from my grip in the attack, the key's too and I tried to reach for my gun with numb fingers but again my arm wouldn't move properly. I dove for my gun with my other hand picking it up in my clumsy and taking aim, one was down but another two were harassing Hank. I pulled the trigger, killing one but the other tripped Hank and my gun clicked empty. Another trill from behind me sounded, and I ducked allowing this one to sail over me. A cry of pain had me looking back towards Hank, and my heart stopped at the sight that met my eyes.

God help me, because no one else could.


	2. Chapter One: Into the Depths

**A/N** : So I've gone through and rewritten the first chapter and this one, but for now I feel I should warn people that I'll put update dates on every chapter I've managed to straighten out- otherwise you might find the subsequent chapters a bit below par quality wise.

 **Updated For Content: 2/2/2017**

* * *

 _ **Allure and Darkness**_

 **Chapter One: Into the Depths**

* * *

 _6:08 Mediterranean Sea_

The small tug boat bobbed rapidly on the rough surf as the dark skinned heavy set man look out into the storm, the looming shadow in the distance made him pause and he looked over his shoulder at his partner.

"Hey Jill." He said, turning on the window clearer- a high tech device that allowed the rain to slough off the center portion of glass for a better look in bad weather. At first he hadn't been certain he was seeing things correctly, a ship the size of the one in front of them should have been well lit, warning smaller ships of its presence with the standard radio and location protocols. Yet here it was silent and dead on the waves, a hulking goliath of a hazard in otherwise open waters. His partner, a slightly shorter brunette came to stand next to him, peering through the window as they closed in on the ship in question.

"Do you think we should try to reach them?" Jill asked quietly.

"Normally yes, but we've had silence for over an hour." Parker answered back, "And nothing from them."

"I'll go out on the deck and take a look." The woman said, wandering out into the blustery night. They soon came close enough to the ship to read her name, and this caused a pause.

"The Queen Zenobia?" He said, before muttering to himself "This thing is lucky to be afloat."

It certainly looked like the quintessential ghost ship- the paint on the hull looked to be weather worn, and the absolute darkness from even the passenger decks made the man wonder if it was simply just a wreck on the waves.

"Take us around," Jill said, head poking into the tugboats cabin. "We'll search for a boarding point."

Parker pulled the boat in towards the rear of the ship, parallel to another tugboat that was hitched to the massive hull- this one also dark and the BSAA members shared a look.

"That looks like a port vessel." Jill said, examining it- the tug itself seemed no worse for wear if simply left to its own devices. "What would it be doing out here?"

"Could be Chris and Jessica? It's been 90 minutes since we lost them on radar." Parker said, pulling out the heavy duty BSAA issue hook lines.

"Well whatever the case may be we should look and see if we can find out why this ship is here, even if the other team isn't here this seems suspicious." The trip up was a rush for both agents, and they hitched the tugboat so it wouldn't float away with the blustery seas. For a moment they checked out the other tug, not boarding but investigating the rope ladder to it and looking in to see if it was currently occupied- but it was as abandoned and desolate as the deck, and they moved on. They came acrossed a padlocked door, and after a bit of finagling Jill used a small set of chain cutters to free up the door. The deck of the ship lurched suddenly, causing a large bell on deck to ring and for a moment Jill and Parker shared a look.

That had been too random to be the rolling of the sea; but what could rock a ship like that? Jill pushed the door open after a moment, and stepped back as the stale air from within wafted out.

"What a stench." Parker said as they both peered into the darkness beyond, only a green caution light lit the room and after a sweep of their flashlights, they knew why. What might have been the overhead florescent light, was crushed against the wall. There lights also revealed the source of the stench, and only previous encounters of similar kinds meant that the two agents keep their cool. There was blood, and a lot of it- the smell from within was the rancid stench of decay, whomever or whatever was within was long dead.

It didn't even take a search to discover the source, bodies- that is several of them were pushed against the wall, many were mutilated beyond identification and all were in some form of dismemberment, although it looked more as though something had been gnawing on them, than anything else. A vent that once lined the ceiling was instead collapsed in the middle, as though some heavy weight had knocked it down, and there was a sickly white substance lining the bottom of it. With a grimace Jill and Parker moved on, towards a door on the other side of the room, trying not to look to hard at what was left of a man propped in the corner. A dark corridor stretched beyond that, and the duo moved forward cautiously.

"No signs of life, but I feel like something's here." Parker said quietly as they passed through the next doorway, a shelf sat dividing the room in two and movement just beyond made both agents point guns and flashlights but whatever it was moved too quickly for them to catch sight of it. The air filled with tension as they rounded the shelving, to find nothing on the other side.

"I don't think we're alone." She said finally, and unless the person they saw could fit in cardboard box- there was nowhere anyone could hide. She turned towards the next doorway hesitantly, the next corridor was relatively quiet, and the two of them walked down a set of steps in silence. A loud noise made both jump back, and the vent that led along the ceiling of the corridor proceeded to rattle and dent wildly, as if something was moving through it at rapid speeds. The duo sped up passing from the hallway into another following the noise into the next corridor, this one split in four directions and the noise disappeared as if it'd never been. To either side were elevators- or at least the space for them, one was completely empty with doors wide open displaying vacant space.

The other seemed to be in a better state, but without power it was anyones guess. The central hallway was blocked with a heap of boxes and other debris that was stained with… Something, Jill moved to inspect the substance, pooling as it was on the top of one box.

"What?" She said as a thick drop hit the center of the pool, she looked up grimacing at a maroon stain on the underside of the vent, she wasn't sure she wanted to know what exactly was in the vents after all. Stepping back she shook her head, looking to her partner. "What do you think?"

"Let's move on." Parker said finally moving towards the left hallway. "The less time we spend in this place, the better."

"Agreed." The route they took merely brought them to the other side of the blocked hallway, and they both chose to ignore the first doorway they came to as it too was impassable due to debris. The next door was clear and both stepped into what was left of an employee's cafeteria; it had sustained quite a bit of damage as well- there was scarcely a surface that had not been overturned or bent, and it took some doing to maneuver around the dented buffet line table towards the next door. Both Jill and Parker at one point jolting as a cover fell off a circuit box- thanks to two very large rats. After that minor heart attack, you would think the next room would be a piece of cake, but the blood pooling on the ground and the body laid out on the high kitchen island spoke otherwise.

Rusty red stains covered many of the appliances, and neither found it wise to question why as they moved past the island towards the center of the room. A dull shine caught Parker's eye as he looked at the floor, and he investigated a grate set into the floor- it looked to be a drain and true to its purpose it seemed to have collected a great deal of the blood that had at one point been on the slick tiled floor. But what caught his interest wasn't the blood itself, but the dull gleam of something within it; metalic and familiar.

"Jill, take a look at this."

The brunette took a moment to stare into the grate as well- it was a large one easily big enough to fit a man through, and made of heavy industrial metal welded together in a latticework pattern. It had hinges on one side, so it could obviously be opened and Jill gave it a test tug before releasing a breath.

"Parker, give me a hand here."

"Sure, no problem." Their partnership was still relatively new, making it difficult and sometimes awkward to ask for things. But like any new collaboration, they would work out the kinks and come to a good balance between their personalities. Parker dismissed this from his mind as he grasped the loose end of the grate, and pulled it up revealing the mess within. While Jill pulled her Genesis from her pack, sweeping it over the red mess before picking up a reading.

"I got something. I think it's a gun." She said with a grimace mentally rolling up her sleeves, putting away her Genesis- this next part was going to suck.

"Now what?"

"Give me a sec." Bracing herself on the edge she reached out with one hand, down into the thick viscous fluid; it only took a moment for her hand to come into contact with the sturdy metal and then she was pulling it out with a grimace. It came out without to much trouble, but it was heavier than she thought it would be, and upon closer inspection she knew why. Parker coughed, fighting his gag reflex as both the stench reached him and the limb still attached to the gun was revealed. "Why is it always a hand?"

She said rhetorically, inspecting it closely before dropping it again as if she needed a reminder of the Spencer mansion after so long.

"So, it's not Chris." Parker said, relief clear in his voice and Jill fought the urge to wipe her hand off on her wet suit as he replaced the grate.

"Nope." She said, looking around Parker's face suddenly paled and the noise of metal dragging across metal behind her made Jill turn and step back, her hand flying to her gun clean or not. But as soon as she was clear, Parker was firing at it- whatever it was and she followed suit taking it down with a head shot. Whatever it was dropped with the a sound like a sack of flesh onto the floor, and for a moment neither partner said anything. Taking a hesitant step forward, Jill inspected the creature even as the composition of its body seemed to be deteriorating. It was a grotesque thing; six feet tall with sharp overgrown teeth and no eyes, it was the color of lifeless flesh.

With two legs and two arms it almost seemed human but the similarities were well outweighed by the differences. For example it seemed to have broken barbs of bone sticking out of either of its arm like appendage, and the pale skin- if it was that of the creature seemed to ooze a translucent stick fluid. On its legs, it had same jagged bone protrusions and they resembled spurr's in appearance- it was almost as if someone had taken a person, grotesquely lengthening the finger bones and the skin around them to this unnatural thing.

"This explains our missing crew at least." Parker said, and Jill nodded in agreement.

"This is not good- where are you Chris?" Jill asked the ship quietly.

Parker leaned down to get a good look before the thing deteriorated, "Think these things got Chris and Jessica?"

"I hope note." Was all Jill could answer with, she knew that nothing as clumsy as this thing stood a decent chance of even harming the man- but Jessica was an unknown factor, Jill and the flirtatious woman didn't really run in the same circles, and up until the new partner assignment she hadn't ever really spoken to her for any length of time. It was entirely possible that said woman might have gotten in over her head, but she didn't think so. People in the B.S.A.A were highly skilled, and Jessica carried herself well in a fight from what she heard. This was shaping up to be one odd mission.

"Hey, no one's saying Chris is dead." Parker said somewhat reassuringly.

"Alright, then let's find him already." This ship was rubbing her the wrong way; a click from behind them made them both jump, and they turned toward the source. A door on the far side of the room seemed to be the source, and both shared a long skeptical look at this.

"Do you think that was the lock?" Parker asked quietly.

"Maybe, we'll have to check it out." She said moving towards the door, resting her hand on the handle she threw a look over her shoulder before saying. "Gotta wonder, if they were locking us out or locking us in."

She pressed down fully expecting to be denied access to the room beyond, but the handle twisted easily and the door swung open with a metal groan.

"I guess both were wrong."

"I suppose so." Parker said looking around the kitchen more thoroughly this time.

"I'll go check it out then I guess."

"Okay, I'll see if I can find anything else here."

"Copy that." She said nodding to the man, "I'll radio you if I pick up Chris' trail."

The door led to another hallway, and after a left turn down a small flight of stairs. It split at the bottom of the stairs one path going straight that led to a heavy metal door, and another going right to a door that was not quite as heavy. After a moment of consideration Jill moved towards the heavier door, she took a moment to try it's handle but it was locked. There was however a cover for a slit in the door about eye level, and she flipped it up to look inside, grip tightening as she caught sight of what or rather who was inside.

"Chris?" But there was no response, she called out again but as with before the man did not respond. Perhaps he was unconscious, or needed medical attention, either way she couldn't leave him here. But the door was locked, and the lock itself was a bit beyond her capabilities for the time being. She would have to search for a key, or alternative perhaps a crowbar. She turned towards the second door radioing Parker letting him know what was going on. Thankfully the second door was unlocked, and opened to a rather large stairwell. It seemed that at one point it led down several floors, but halfway down the rusted structure a portion of the platform had fallen away from the wall leaving it impassable. It seemed her only route was up then, the remaining stairs seemed to be steady and she started up with a grimace.

It would just figure that she'd live through all the drama of the mansion and Raccoon city only to die alone in a stairwell because she stepped wrong. The sway of the ship was long forgotten and she made it to the next level without incident- the next and final level accessible by the stairwell at least, opening the door to reveal yet another hallway. Big surprise, but she couldn't help to think that for the day she would rather not have any more surprises; the hallway turned twice and she found herself facing a blockage that wasn't entirely unsurpassable. She could just climb over it, but the door to the left bore some investigation before then.

It swung open with a creak and for a moment Jill swore she heard quick footsteps and the whine of hinges from within, but then nothing. On either side of the room there were bunks two tall, unmade beds otherwise clean, as if someone had left them in a hurry. At the back of the room appeared to be yet another doorway, without a door that is. Walking towards it she flicked on her flashlight, the room itself was unlit and had no window to the outside to provide light. This room appeared to be a communal bathroom, with water leaking from a broken toilet somewhere in the back, it was a bit of a tip- it hadn't been cleaned in forever it seemed, and some of the toilet stalls along the wall had broken doors.

Another door and the woman paced to it trying to decipher a noise in the air, it almost seemed like breathing, but she wasn't certain where it might be coming from. She was passed the first stall, intact but closed and the second which was missing a door- and the sound of breathing was only getting more prominent. Another step; and without warning the door on the fourth stall slammed open, and a pale fleshed B.O.W. shambled out with a disgruntled noise. Jill didn't hesitate to take it down as quickly as possible, with a bullet to the head. With quick steps she was over the thing and through the next doorway, this led to another more disorganized bunk room. It had more space, and several desk in it so Jill took a moment to search each of them and the lockers as well, but found nothing. There was another door- an actual door this time in the locker area after some investigation she discovered that it led to the other side of the blocked hallway thankfully.

A detour she felt she would avoid on her way back. Moving along the hallway she noticed one of the thick square windows broken in somehow, and she questioned what exactly had the ability to break something like that. Windows on ships tended to be of the more sturdy variety of glass- meant to withstand all weather conditions, she wasn't sure she wanted to meet the thing that did this.

* * *

 _Only a short time earlier-_

The sound of steps seemed to ring in my over sensitive ears as I came too, instinctively rolling out of the bunk I'd appropriated. My arm protested vehemently and the roll was less graceful motion and more awkward flop, before I dropped heavily to the floor skittering quietly into the first open stall I shut the door quickly gently pushing the latch closed with only a subtle click. A noise as it were that did not go unnoticed by other resident of the restroom, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. I muffled my breathing with my good hand sitting on the toilet and pulling my feet up to press against the door. The B.O.W. in question was one of the more- lets say vacant creatures I'd found on this ship, less inclined to chase off after every noise in favor of watching the water flow out of the leaking toilet for some reason.

It had been to my estimates only three days since my arrival on this tip- but each moment seemed to stretch into years as I slipped passed B.O.W.'s, flitting from place to place on this ship like a ghost. My predictions about my situation on the first day hadn't been far off, my partner hadn't gotten back up after going down. The vivid image of his blood staining the deck was burned into my brain, choking on his own blood the slick sticky feeling of his blood on my hand as I pressed a makeshift tourniquet against his wound. The sharp agony of my shoulder as I tried to make my hand do something, anything to help my friend.

I shook my head trying to clear away the mental images as the sound of footsteps preceded the opening of the door to the bunk room, someone then moving with purpose through the room- searching? For what I could only wonder, I might have hesitated to emerge from my safe little stall, but Shambles didn't. Too much noise over the gentle gurgling of the broken toilet I guess. He was one of the tall pale eyeless creatures that wandered around the ship, usually not to hard to avoid as long as you didn't make too much noise. It was the spined ones you had to worry about it, they were quick and could cut a man in two if given the chance- not that I'd seen it, but the results of their actions were plain for anyone to see.

I'd been quietly slinking around the ship since the initial outbreak, searching for the source of the outbreak and hopefully a radio. I'd run into other survivors but few were friendly as I was not only a stranger, but one that somehow appeared out of nowhere during a time of crisis. My last run in- with the communications officer had nearly been fatal, and I chose to avoid anyone from that point on.

The B.O.W.s I'd encountered since the initial fight at least weren't as smart as hunters, thankfully and could be avoided, and for some reason the hunters never really breached the interior of the ship. The more human like creatures couldn't see, although they were light sensitive, and relied on sound to navigate. There were also large pulsating pods in the pool deck that I avoided, if only because they were much larger than myself. I avoided most places with water- I had reason to suspect that it was how the virus was spread, and any place with a large amount of it tended to be rampant with bioweapons. A light swept under the edge of the stall I was in, and then a gunshot echoed in the restroom followed by another.

Then more quick steps out of the room and off into the next- and I took the opportunity to slink back out of my hiding place to grab the blanket I'd been using off the bed, and slink out the door at almost the exact same time as the unknown person walked out of the room on the other side of the hallway. I dropped down hiding behind a crate as the metal door closed behind her? There was a small gap between the crates and I definitely spied a female figure on the other side- one that seemed vaguely familiar. But I passed it off over a lack of sleep, three days and I'd only managed to get maybe three, four hours tops of sleep in this place. Staying ahead of the predators meant moving as often as possible, the bunk room was less frequented than others by the things because of the constant stream of noise from the plumbing.

I mean besides Shambles I guess, but he never really left the bathroom stall. Choosing to fall asleep there was less choice and more briefly finding a place that might be safe to collapse, and I needed to collapse. My shoulder was screaming- caused by my fall during the fight with the Hunters. I'd bound it to my side in an improvised sling, but it was for the most part useless- I mean I was assuming that it was dislocated and not broken- but I couldn't be sure at this point. In any case I was not going to be able to climb down a rope ladder in this state. My dominant arm was useless, and I was pretty much on my own until I found a com system to contact someone with.

If I was brutally honest I would also admit that I might never get off this rotting tip; it was very likely that an air strike was the response I would get to be honest, it was what happened in Raccoon. And anything that had to do with biological weapons was eventually destroyed for the safety of others- in the long run my life did not outweigh the safety of others, it was the simple truth. If I was going to get off this ship, I would have to do it on my own, but I couldn't afford to put others lives at risk. I would have to call down the B.S.A.A. or the F.B.C. someone who could contain the outbreak.

I moved away from the crates down the hallway towards the stairwell, the stairs themselves had been damaged at one point by a B.O.W. but they were still passable to the cafeteria. I will admit that I'd been living off the bottled water and vending machine goods I could steal. But it was the safest route at this point, I didn't think I could contract the virus that had clearly hit others on the ship, but it was better to be safe than sorry. T-Virus derivative bah, why did everyone seem to have one now days, surely it couldn't be that easy to make a new strain? I shook my head and moved into the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time. After the one section of it gave, I was eager to get off these stairs as quickly as possible.

I stepped out into the next hallway and promptly found myself stopping dead as a gun was pointed at me.

"Stop! Who are you?" Said a dark haired male, with a heavy accent and I held up my good hand to show I meant no harm.

"Priscilla Kenton- Marine Environment Protection Agency." I said in a calm but shaky voice.

"What is the MEPA doing in a place like this?" He said lowering his gun but not dropping his guard completely.

"Me and my partner were dispatched to the Queen Zenobia to check it out, and check on the ships credentials. It showed up on the radar in our district and it wasn't scheduled to be anywhere nearby, so it seemed suspicious." I answered truthfully, no reason to lie really.

"Do you know what happened to the crew?" He asked looking around a bit.

"Yes, unfortunately." I answered, rubbing my bad arm; it still ached but there was nothing I could do about it. "Have you run into those pale things?"

I pitched it as a question and he nodded, so I continued. "That's them, or what's left of them."

"And your partner?" I answered him with a shake of my head, "Damn. I'm sorry, look have you seen my partner? I think she went that way, but I can't be sure."

"I think so, brunette right?"

"Yeah, that'd be her- Jill. I'm Parker, Parker Luciani. Its nice to meet somebody on this wreck."

"Agreed." I said hesitating for a moment before hazarding "I don't suppose you have any first aid training?"

"A little."

"I think I broke my arm- or maybe it's dislocated I can't tell."

"Here let me take a look," We moved over to a set of stairs, sitting down to remove the rough sling. He moved his fingers over the joint, and I let out a pained breath as it throbbed horribly on contact but tried not to think about it. "Not broken I don't think, but definetly dislocated. But I don't know how to put it back, we'll have to wrap it up to keep it out of the way."

"Thank you."I said as we moved to secure it again, mentally cursing- each movement was agonizing but Parker was able to secure it easier than I had. Easier with two hands right? His radio beeped, and he pressed the receiving button.

"Jill, what's going on?"

"I found a survivor. The B.O.W.'s got her thought."

"Who was she?" Parker questioned back a skeptical look crossing his face.

"I'm still trying to piece that together."

"Alright then," He said before turning to me. "You're partner?"

I shook my head before answering, "No, my partner was male."

"Parker?" Came across his radio.

"I found someone as well Jill, from the M.E.P.A no less."

"What are they doing out here?"

"It's a long story, we should regroup. Have you found anything?"

"Nothing about her identity, but she did have a key."

"Copy that. Hold on to it, we just might need it."

"Alright, I'm on my way."

Parker finished with the sling and we stood to wait for his partner to arrive, we didn't have to wait long. The door creaked open ominously and we both braced for the worst but it wasn't a monster this time. I thought I'd recognized the voice over the radio, and even more so the back that I glimpsed walking away. But I never expected for it to actually be someone I knew, I mean what are the odds right?

"Jill?" I said as the brunette woman stepped around the door, and her face lit up as she saw me.

"Priss? No way." We shared a hug even as Parker threw us confused looks, and I stepped back to get a good look of her. She looked healthier than she had after Raccoon, that was for damn sure and I was grateful, she was one of the few people I knew I could call friend. "I am going to be honest and say I thought you were dead."

"After Rockfort?" I answered back honestly, "I'm just damn lucky I'm not. I didn't know how to get ahold of anyone after we got separated."

"What are you doing here?"

"My job, or rather the job I got suckered into." I went silent for a moment as I thought about it, and tried to ignore the overwhelming guilt I felt over Hank- Damn it. "I should have told my boss to go to hell. Ugh, never mind. What brought you guys here anyways- not that I'm not happy to see you."

"We're here to find Chris, and Jessica." Jill answered easily, Chris I knew, Jessica however…

"Jessica use to be my partner," Parker added helpfully.

"I haven't seen anyone else since yesterday, but it's a big ship. I'm sure they're here somewhere." I commented.

"I found Chris earlier." I gave her a look and she elaborated, "He's just behind that door, I found the key so we can get him out. Maybe then we can get some answers."

"Are you sure?" I asked, the room she was pointing at I was familiar with, and I knew the last time I'd been through here it had been empty. The door had a convenient flap to look through, and Chris was in there but… Something seemed weird about this, but I couldn't really put my finger on it.

"See, now we should get him out of there. He wasn't answering me earlier, he might be in shock." I nodded to this before something occurred to me, if Chris was in shock he would need to be treated quickly. I picked up my blanket from where I'd dropped it, handing it to Parker.

"Take this, I'm going to go get more. If Chris is in shock I don't want to waste a second. Untie him and lay him out flat- gently. I'll go get some more blankets and see if I can find a first aid kit somewhere, and some clean water for that matter- Don't drink the water here. It may be infected." I said moving towards the door.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Parker asked as Jill worked on unlocking the door. "Going around by yourself like that?"

"I can manage." I said with a shrug, "Just take care of Chris, I'll be back."

I pulled the door open with a tug, closing it behind me I moved up the stairs as quickly as I could, which wasn't easy. My arm wasn't hurting as much as it use to, but it made me feel lopsided, off balance. But I would have to deal with it, I was dealing with it. At the end of the plethora of hallways there was a medical bay, I'd seen it before although I'd nearly been crushed by an emergency bulkhead at the time. One of the crew that had been a bit more touchy on the whole 'stranger on the ship' concept then most; definitely tried to kill me. Yup. Either way, he trapped himself on the inside of the ship when he dropped it- he'd been trying to kill me for like an hour. People do crazy things sometimes.

I moved up through the door out into the partially blocked hallway, stopping as I heard a noise in the vents. The subtle rasping of breath- a creature. I pressed my hand over my mouth, and slowed my breathing. It had probably heard me pounding up the damn steps; reckless, or maybe it was the gun shots from earlier. Either way I needed to keep as quiet, and as still as possible- he might just move away, it had happened before. It would move on to the next sound; but that only brought to mind what was likely to make the next loud noise, Jill and Parker. They had weapons sure, but they also had to take care of Chris. I had to draw it off. But I couldn't be stupid about this, I had a weapon but I couldn't use it.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

(Outtakes)

"I don't think we're alone." She said finally, and unless the person they saw could fit in cardboard box- there was nowhere anyone could hide. The brunette woman turned, exiting through the door, her partner following suit. A moment passed, and then another and one box in particular shifted rise up out of the pile, a large logo proclaiming it was from "The Orange" and it shifted again as a man pushed the box off of him.

"That was a close one Snake."

"Otakon, are you sure this is the right ship?" the dark haired man asked into a headset, and a long silence ensued.

"You know, I'm not really sure."

* * *

A/N: You know, I totally forgot about this little Easter egg at the end here.


	3. Chapter Two: Double Mystery

**A/N:** So here is the next chapter, and I actually had a question for those of you who are tuning in. These chapters are actually pretty long, both because of the content of the game, and the added characters input. My question is, should I break these chapters down? I could easily make each of this into two different chapters, but is that the preferred method of delivery? Either way, here is your next chapter.

* * *

 **Updated: 2/2/2017**

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Two: Double Mystery**

* * *

" _Let no one think of me that I am humble or weak or passive; let them understand I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies, loyal to my friends." -Euripides, Medea and Other Plays_

On my way up the steps I took a moment to crouch low, unzipping my boots and slip my feet out. I was quiet with my boots on, but silent with them off, or practically silent. I moved quietly to the heavy metal door grasping the handle and turning it slowly, wincing as the catch clicked open. A noise caught my attention and I paused listening- a clatter distant at first but moving closer, one of the more enterprising creatures lived out of the vents, and its attention had been drawn to the area. Probably by the gunshots earlier, and I had just the thing for throwing it off before I could think twice about it, I picked up a random piece of debris before throwing it as hard as I could across into the bunkroom. It flew high hit the metal ceiling and dropped hard on the cold ceramic tiles with a magnificent clatter. That it seemed got its attention and I listened as it rattled through the vents in the direction of the noise, I closed the door quickly and quietly, before climbing over the crates that were half blocking the hallway.

I set my boots down on the other side of the boxes, I would be coming back this way later, so I should be able to pick them up then, before moving off towards the laundry room, it had some blankets in it- I remembered slipping in there at one point to escape the crazy crew member trying to kill me. No monsters, but also no place to hide. I locked it up when I left- Royces keys as it were did wonders for getting around. Not that I had any clue where I was going, so the keys made very little difference in the end- If I could find a map I would have been golden, but no such luck.

Damn, I forgot to ask Jill about using her radio to contact someone about this shit mess. I would have to ask her after I got back, Chris had priority- I owed him that much. I wouldn't mind giving my own life if it meant saving others, but Chris deserved better and this line of thought led down an unfriendly road so I snipped it in the bud in favor of paying attention to my surroundings. The door oddly was unlocked, and I slipped in with a keen look around. Nobody was inside so I moved over to the shelves that held the clean bed linens, they were twin sized to fit the bunks, and I pulled down a sheet first looking at it for a moment before converting it into a sling. I folded a blanket down as far as I could before slipping it in, followed by a towel and a hand towel. I swung it over my head, hanging on my good shoulder.

I moved out of the room again, taking a door deeper into the ship towards the med bay. There was a dead creature pooled at the top of the steps, and I had to be careful not to slip on what was left of it on my way down. The window to the medbay was cracked and covered in blood from the other side, so I couldn't see inside a the moment but I kept my steps and breathing light in case there were anymore B.O.W.'s- or in case the crazy crew member found a way around the bulkhead. It was still closed thankfully, and I crept through the door to the medbay another creature was pooled in the corner, and the body of a woman was leaning against the wall near the window.

Her skull was caved in, and there was no way anything human could have survived that blood loss, but I knew enough about zombies- and every other B.O.W. that could possibly be encountered to know that she could possible rise after that, so I didn't hesitate to unholster my gun with a shaking hand and pull the trigger. I'd hesitated once, and people died because of me, I couldn't afford to do it again. It might seem cold, and odd I mean I didn't like fighting, I wasn't great with a gun. But I could still shoot something- or in some cases someone in the head to prevent the worst from happening.

I took the job at the MEPA to avoid this scenario, but I was apparently Captain of Worst Fears Realized- so you know go me. I began to search the room for anything useful, hoping that Chris was doing alright.

* * *

 _6:42 Mountains of Europe_

With a sigh Chris brushed some snow off his shoulder, looking out across the path that he and Jessica were currently taking in the light snowfall. If his GPS was correct, they would arrive at the coordinates in less than thirty minutes.

"Slow down, Chris." He heard over the wailing of the wind, and he looked back over his shoulder at his new partner.

"We're almost there, Jessica." He said taking a moment to rub his hands together for warmth, the weather in these parts was brutal and even in the heavy artic gear he was wearing, he could feel the wind. He had no idea how Jessica could stand to be out in this in only her thick leggings, and what looked like shorts. Her clothing was less practical, and Chris had to question her judgement, but he just dismissed it- blaming his preference for partners in practical clothing on Jill. O'brian had wanted the two to be flexible as senior BSAA members in the people they went out with, each member of the BSAA brought with them some expertise, but Chris and Jill were top in their field for BOW experience, and investigation of those responsible.

"I certainly hope so," she said, leaning to one side to stretch her back. He pulled out his GPS to check on their progress, "My feet are killing me."

"Our source indicates the camp is on the far side of this peak." He added simply, putting the gps away. He wasn't entirely comfortable with talking to his new partner yet, with Jill talk came easy but usually wasn't necessary. If he needed something, all he had to do was point, and the same was true for Jill. They'd been working together long enough that words were rarely necessary. With Jessica… sometimes he wasn't sure she didn't like to hear the sound of her own voice. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, it was nice to have a break from the monotony. But he was fairly certain she was flirting with him, and that was something he wasn't sure he wanted to deal with.

It certainly wasn't uncommon for people in the BSAA to flirt, people found him good looking- the same was true for Jill actually. But he was far too wrapped up in his job to consider romance, for now at least.

"Maybe it's just the weather but, I still can't make contact with HQ." Jessica said as she brushed her head set again, they'd been incommunicado for little over an hour now. Yet there was no helping it, neither of them were tech guru's- They would just have to keep going until they found what they were looking for. "Who'd have thought we'd be stuck out here for so long."

He only shrugged at this, it took as long as it took. He started moving forwards again, shaking off the snow that accumulated in his brief halt as he walked- Stopping for too long in this weather was a bad idea. White and grey dominated the landscape, and for the most part all that could be heard was the sounds of their breathing, and the wind. A high pitched engine noise cut through the otherwise quiet day, and the rumbling of engines seemed so close that it made the ground rumble. Chris and Jessica both looked up in time to see a large cargo plane barely scrape by the peak overhead, in obvious distress.

"That plane!" Jessica, and the the ground seemed to buck under them accompanied by the sounds of twisting metal and crunching glass. "Oh my god, Chris!"

"The intel we got on Veltro was on the money I guess. Come on." They both moved faster now, reenergized by the possible danger and worry about the result of the crash. If there were people still alive trapped on that plane, they had to help them. They dropped down from a ledge towards the crash, and Chris let out a short breath.

"Jesus, no one could have lived through that." Jessica commented looking at it, the plane was well buried in the rocky ground. Flames licked at what twisted metal remained, and Chris did his best to push the shock of such senseless death from his mind. They had to get to the bottom of this crash, if it was linked with Veltro- then it might not have been an accident.

"Investigate the site, let me know if you find anything." He said pointing in one direction as he moved in the other. They looked to be near the tail of the plane, and a metal kennel like contraption caught his eye as Jessica made her way towards the front end of the plane- twisted bars formed a door that sat on crushed hinges. They were bent in such a way as to suggest that perhaps something had forced its way out, rather than having been damaged in by the plane's impact, and Chris curse silently. What could have pushed solid steel out like that? He didn't know, but he did know that claw marks on the back of the crate were all too familiar. It sure as hell wasn't human; with that he turned his attention to a metal cabinet that landed not far from the crate.

It bore the biohazard warning symbol on it, and Chris looked at it much like someone looks at a the neighbor's dog pooping on their lawn. It was a good dog, and it did its job, but you don't really need or want to see that. Particularly in this line of work.

"What the hell were they carrying?" He said, moving to open the case slowly. It revealed a slimy pustule of infected flesh, and the smell made him close the door again with a grimace.

"Chris," Jessica said making her way back to him. "Do you really think we're dealing with Veltro again?"

"Hard to say." He said, moving towards the front of the wreck, the plane had broken in two on landing, and the front was a little less trashed then the back half. "I find it difficult to believe they survived Terragrigia thought."

The cockpit it seemed was intact, and Chris pulled the door open with a thump, promptly leaping back as something fell out. Or rather someone; apparently one of the pilots had been attempting to flee when the plane crashed, without luck it seemed. Chris crouched to rifle through the man's pockets, he was definitely dressed in some sort of uniform. A flight manifest was stuck beneath the man's arm and Chris looked it over briefly.

"This manafest should give us a lead on where these guys were headed." He said handing it to Jessica in favor of search deeper into the cockpit.

"Let's see…" She said rifling through the papers quickly, "It says they were headed for Valkoinen Mokki Airport."

"If that's where they were headed, then we should be there soon." Chris said looking over in the direction of the mountain, an oddly well maintained cave opening in the mountain side and for a moment Chris pondered its presence; it seemed to lead in the direction the needed to go, it certainly looked like it. He waved Jessica over as he shouldered his shotgun, he wasn't sure if this was the best route. But it would have to do, the two of them together managed to lift the heavy metal shutter closing off the entrance of the cave, and they were off. A few paces in a small ledge dropped down into a cave proper and they both hopped down as they flipped on flashlights, it wasn't to dark, but it was better to be safe in a place like this.

"Burr, this cave is too cold." Jessica said injecting some humor into the situation as time wore on, and Chris couldn't help quipping back.

"Should have worn your thermal underwear-" A distant howl echoed through the cave, and Chris shared a quick look with Jessica as they both listened a bit harder. It didn't sound like the noise an animal would naturally make. They rounded a corner and were greeted by the sight of several severely mutated huskies; Chris didn't hesitate to open fire on the pack as it attacked, and they moved on.

"This is why I like Chihuahua's." Jessica said with no small amount of disgust. "Do you think this is what the plane was transporting?"

"Looks that way, doesn't it?" He said reloading his shotgun.

"Then I guess Veltro is back from the dead."

"Yeah," He said moving down one fork of the path. "We'll have to stop them before more innocent people get hurt. I can't imagine they don't have another Terragrigia planned, after all this time."

The cave opened briefly to the sky, and the pair of them spotted a black husky downing it before it realized it was in danger. Two bridges spanned over a chasm below only one of which was still standing, but the gap wasn't to terrible to jump. So the pair took turns leaping, only to be ambushed on the other side. The cave echoed with the loud report of guns once more, the next portion of the cave was filled with materials that were apparently meant to repair the down bridge, and Chris doubted they would ever see use as the passed through. The path beyond wound around and down to a ladder set into the wall on one side, and navigating the old frail stone of the pathway was dangerous.

At one point Chris even fell, but he managed to pick himself back up again climbing the ladder without to much trouble.

"Look, is that the airstrip?" Jessica said as they came to a ledge, it seemed to overlook a weatherbeaten warehouse.

"Seems like it, doesn't look like much does it?" A radio beeped, and for a moment Chris and Jessica shared a look before he pressed the receive button.

"This is Forkball. Do you read?" Came over their headsets, clearly their superior O'brian's voice.

"Chris here, I read you sir."

"Are you alright? Where are you?"

"The interference here killed our signals. We're at Valkoinen Mokki Airport."

"Damn it, it's gotta be a setup."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked, stomach dropping.

"I sent Jill and Parker out to the Mediterranean on faulty intel, and now I've lost contact."

"How? What's going on?"

"Chris?" Jessica said nudging his shoulder and handing him a pair of binoculars that she'd been using. "You'd better take a look at this."

She pointed towards a watch tower set at the far end of the airfield and Chris took a look, a yellow flag stood out against the grey and white of the surrounding area and he took a breath.

"O'brian," Jessica said as she queued up her radio. "You are not going to like this. We found the Veltro crest."

"Then stories of their resurrection are true." Came the response, O'brian's voice seemed to be carefully controlled at this point, and the partners shared a look. "If that's the case, then-"

"Then the set up that got Jill and Parker, it was all-"

"Yeah, I'd almost guarantee it." Was his response.

"O'brian," Chris said pulling out his gps he wasn't sure he would be in the clear for his choice of next step, but he wasn't leaving Jill high and dry. "We'll go after Jill and Parker. I hope that's not a problem."

"Not at all." O'brian agreed, it was an unusual step- when a team went incommunicado the nearest team was sent, not one that was in the frozen wastes of a mountain range. "Make your way to the mediterranean, and we'll keep you posted."

"What is going on." Jessica said rhetorically, and Chris had no answer to give her.

* * *

 _Somewhere in the Mediterranean_

The infirmary yielded quite a few useful items, and I stocked up on bandages and antiseptics while looking for things that might actually be useful for a victim of shock. I would have to pick up some bottled water from the cafeteria, and maybe some food as well- but that was in the other direction. The plan was to drop off what I had and collect everything else after checking on Chris. So I made my way out of the infirmary and up the steps, carefully sidling my way around the what was left of the BOW. I did not want to chance stepping in that, I picked up my boots before carefully climbing over the heap of crates in the middle of the corridor, listening carefully to make sure I wasn't attracting unwanted attention, and managed to slip through the door back to the stairwell.

I set my improvised knapsack on the top step and took a moment to replace my boots, listening as I laced them tight. There wasn't much in the way of sounds at the moment, my own breathing, the swaying and creak of the ship, and if I listened hard enough the gurgle of the water in the bathroom on the other side of the wall. But there was something else- not one of the BOW's, but not something that I could easily place. I grabbed the sheet balancing precariously as I pulled it up onto my good shoulder, I might have jumped the gun in assuming that Chris was in shock- but I would rather be safe than sorry. Besides, having these items on hand wouldn't hurt. I Paced quietly down the steps, halting at the door as I heard something that sounded like a grunt from the other side. I should be able to hear Jill and Parker sure, but now that I was listening it was entirely too quiet.

Cautiously I slide the bag to the ground, creeping towards the door I pulled on the handle opening it only a crack. And there was nothing, no noise, or at least not something I could ascribe to Jill or Parker. I did hear what sounded like the groaning of another door, and then something or someone passed the doorway, heavy boots making far too much noise on the metal grating of the floor. I slipped through the doorway, creeping in to the hallway- the shadow I'd seen was walking away from the room that Parker and Jill had been walking into previously. But after checking I wasn't certain what was going on, as the room that had previously contained Chris was now empty.

They wouldn't have left without saying something to me unless it was an emergency, I mean it could have happened. But it was unlikely, the sound of something closing in the distance made me pause and for a moment I debated my next course of action- if that was them they were leaving for a reason I wasn't privy too, and I would very much like to know what that was. I moved quickly out of the room, being careful to close the door quietly before moving over the metal floor towards the other door. Pushing it open I followed the noise of boots in the distance, through another hallway down into the kitchen and through the cafeteria- always just beyond my line of sight. It was the sound of the elevator working that made me pause, there were two of them on this level- one that was completely broken, which was entirely my fault you would panic too if there was a weird B.O.W following you.

But the other elevator led to the bilge, and hadn't been working since before the crewmember tried to kill me. That was why I was taking that particular passage to begin with, I had literally no bearings in this ship and I was trying to find one very specific room. Like really, how hard did they have to make it to find the communications deck? I shrugged that off as the elevator stopped, and I pressed the return button. Hell, if someone was going to the Bilge I could meet them there, this was getting really weird. The only reason I even knew this elevator made it to the Bilge was because of a brief run in with the communications officer. Just after the debacle on deck which meant I was stuck on this hulking wreck _alone_ \- no I couldn't think about that right now I had to focus.

I found it hard to believe that Jill, Parker or Chris had the ability to get this particular elevator running; from this deck at least- as I've said the Com's officer was hiding down on the Promenade, and he'd disabled it. Something about shorting out the power? I wasn't certain, all I knew was that I'd tried it before and it had not been working. I sighed, shifting my weight from one foot to another as the elevator lowered into the depths of the ship. The elevator announced its arrival with one entirely too loud ping, and I stepped out of the doors into an L shaped corridor. Nothing immediately jumped out at me- literally or figurative so I continued down to the end of the corridor. A large metal service door sat just beyond, and I opened it slowly to find a vast empty room.

There was what appeared to be a lift in the middle of the room, with a metal grating walkway. This was definitely not the type of area any passenger was meant to see, as it was all rusted metal and bare machinery. But where had they gone? The lift was obviously out, and there wasn't another door for them to go through, so unless they'd decided to take the quick way down they weren't here. A ladder in an odd place clued me into the route they'd taken- up into one of the largest vents I'd ever seen, and I gave it a very skeptical look.

Who in the hell uses a vent that sized? Or for that matter who walks through something like that? I shook my head and shimmied up the ladder, ignoring the pain in my bound shoulder as I pulled myself up. Doing everything one handed in a zombie apocalypse situation? Only slightly worse than being stuck in a wheelchair, I'll have to tell people about that sometime- If I made it through this. No one would believe me, I mean Jill almost didn't but she'd been there. The vent turned and it was just my luck that yet another ladder dropped down, once more the only route.

I shuffled carefully down this ladder as it was at least twenty feet long, I didn't relish the thought of falling to my doom in the depths of this piece of crap ship- I mean, hurting myself was somewhat of a personal talent, but it wasn't one that I particularly wanted as an end note. It was also nice to know I hadn't lost my gallows humor in my paper pushing nine to five, it was like an old friend. Setting foot on the ground level of this room I made a face at the area id' entered, it was like someone somewhere heard my comment about unusually sized vents and decided to just blow my mind. My condo wasn't the size of this vent- who the hell was in charge of designing these things anyways? Twice as tall as I was easily it was rusted, and dreary and I was already getting tired of the rerun of 'Falling apart and subtly menacing' that seemed to be the theme here.

And at the other end of the vent was yet another ladder; I took a moment to breath and count to three. I wasn't doing so well but I gave myself a mental and physical shake before walking towards the next ladder. No sleep and lots of physical activity with very little in the way of substance made it difficult to keep doing this, I would have to take a breather soon. I struggled up the ladder taking stopping for a moment about halfway up, before moving on again practically dragging myself out of the ladder mouth. I nearly cried when I found yet another ladder, this one at least was much shorter than the other two had been, and I mentally cursed as I reached to flick on my flashlight- standard issue gear for our wet suits, two waterproof flashlights. One mounted about chest level next to our camera's- which I hadn't had turned on, and one stowed in my pack in case the other was broken.

The tiny light revealed a small room, comfortably furnished but otherwise unremarkable and I paused for a second to examine the card table in the middle of the room; it was an actual card table like one set up for a casino- not a folding piece of crap that you might find at a local second hand store for five bucks, and I glanced up as I caught sight of movement before snorting as I realized that it was merely my reflection in the darkness. One wall was covered in different monitors, as if this were some observation room, and I gave the area one last sweep before moving towards the door on the other side of the room. Whomever I'd been following- and I was praying it was Jill, was long gone by now something only further confirmed by the darkness in the next room.

Despite the darkness there were a few lights illuminating some areas including the door I'd come from and around the edge of the room as a whole, probably in case of emergency. The area I was standing it was raised above the main floor, like at some fancy casino- like a place for keeping an eye on guests. Although that didn't explain the metal cut out woman with a tray standing next to the door, but whatever. I moved down the dark stairs into the room proper, walking around a fountain with some rather large fish swimming around in it- personally I was surprised that they weren't some mutant guppies by now, but I ignored this in favor of looking around. There were slot machines on almost every wall, and two tables on either side of the room- one for blackjack and one it seemed for roulette.

There was a cage area for the people who handed out winnings, and at the other end of the room were two escalators- they of course weren't working, but that just meant that they were fancy stairs now, and I moved towards them. Something glimmered in the pale light of my flashlight, and I moved around the escalator to investigate crouching to get a better look- an ammo case that contained a pack of handgun ammo. That could be useful, a quick check told me it was full, and I awkwardly unzipped one of my empty pouches, slipping it inside for later. I stood but paused as I heard something moving in the darkness, covering my light with my hand I listened- shuffling was coming from somewhere, so decided to click my light off altogether and wait.

My eyes adjust to the light level in the room slowly and then I heard another noise- this one more familiar and I pressed my back to the slot machines as the door above me opened. It was another one of those stupid wheelhouse handled doors, and I waited patiently as it creaked in the dark room. Light for a brief moment spilled in, before going dark again as the door was closed rapidly behind whomever had come in through it, and I didn't even debate calling out to whomever it was until I established that it was someone I wanted to talk to. The footsteps were heavy, too heavy to be Jill and I reached for my gun carefully. Dominant hand or not, I could still shoot; a figure moved down the stairway quickly and I watched a dark clothed back come into sight and walk towards the stairway to the next room.

From the height and shape of the person's frame, I was guessing the person was male- he was tall and too thin to be Parker which gave me pause. For a moment I fought with the thought that I should stop this man and demand answers, but I didn't know enough about this situation to ascertain whether or not he was a friend. More than that, there was no guarantee I would be able to maintain the upper hand- I wasn't a terribly imposing figure on my own.

I slowly holstered my gun again, letting out a breath- and then cursed as the sound that came from it seemed to echo in the otherwise silent room. The figure paused, turning to search the darkness and I only hoped that the darkness would conceal me. Sudden movements would catch his eye, so I stood absolutely still as he swept the length of the room. That was another strange thing, I would dearly have liked to have seen this mans face- but he was wearing a gas mask. That did not bode well; did this indicate that there was something in the air that I had to worry about, or was it just a method of hiding his identity?

In either case, he thankfully turned after a moment of looking and continued up into the doorway, closing it with a snap behind him. I in turn took a moment to still my rapidly beating heart, before moving up the broken escalator and through the other set of doors. I had to find Jill, Chris and Parker, the mystery man could wait.

* * *

 _Guest Cabin 8:32_

The creak and groan of the world around her made Jill wince as she came to, groggy and disoriented. Her head complained as she pushed herself upright from the otherwise soft surface, and she felt herself pull a face as she attempted to open her eyes. Light- the white light of a TV gone static made her close her eyes again, rubbing at them as she noticed that something was not right. She wasn't at home, she couldn't be, but she wasn't sure where she was, and her disorientation meant that it was not an unintended side effect. It took her a moment to remember the mission to the Mediterranean, trying to locate Chris, the BOWs, finding Chris, discovering Priss was alive, and the trap.

The manikin made to look exactly like Chris filled with a knock out gas, and the mysterious man with the gas mask. Rubbing her eyes again, she opened them to reveal a dimly lit room of medium sized- it looked like the type of room on would see in a hotel, complete with tv that was turned to static. She dropped her feet down to the floor, her fingers brushed her the holster where her gun should have been only to find it empty- and the same could be said for where her pack and genesis should have been. Her radio thankfully was still in place, and she hailed Parkers for a moment hoping that his was still in place.

"Jill?" Said an all too familiar voice and she let out a sigh of relief, even as she noted his voice was a bit slurred.

"Parker!"

"Where are you?"

"I dunno, a room- I think it's in the guest wing of the ship." She listened for a moment, breathing a sigh of relief as the familiar rock and groan of the massive ship proved her assumption to be correct.

"Well, that makes two of us at least." He said, his voice clearing up "That bastard took all of my weapons."

"Can you reach HQ?"

"No," He said after a moment "Comm's are out it seems. We should regroup."

"Roger that." She said, moving slowly towards the door. A twist of the handle however put a premature end to her attempted adventure, and she gave the door a particularly sour look before promising she would never forget her lock pick set again. There was a panel next to the door, and she attempted to pry off the face of it before concluding that she would need something to actually unscrew it with, and as chipped and thick as her nails might be they would be of no use. The door on the other side of the room immediately grabbed her attention, and she moved towards it. The door opened to reveal a dingy and rather disgusting bathroom, tiles were broken and the shower curtain and bathtub both had seen better days.

Jill chose to ignore the bathtub for the moment, remembering her last encounter with a BOW in a dirty bathtub and instead took a moment to rifle through the single drawer under the sink coming up with a metal nail file. It was the kind that had a pointed end for getting under fingernails, and she knew she could use this to open the cover on the door panel.

A thump from the main room made her look out, and for a moment Jill wondered if Parker had found her. But the noise didn't seem to be coming from outside of the room, and she moved slowly across the room. The noise seemed to be coming from the wardrobe in the corner, another thump and the wooden doors burst open allowing one of the pale hulking BOW's to slump to the floor. With a startling speed it pulled to its feet, and swung at Jill barely missing her before swinging again. This time she dropped to the floor, rolling away from it and the creatures momentum carried it into the TV, shattering the screen and electrocuting it with a sizzle and the smell of burnt flesh. JIll covered her nose with a hand, pushing herself up, for a brief moment the scent pulled her back to Raccoon city- the burnt flesh of the undead permeating the air as she ran from a Tyrant driven to destroy and her mouth ran dry, as her heart began to pound memory pushing out the present.

Her foot caught on something for a moment as she shifted, and this thankfully pulled her away from a rather vivid and gripping flashback- a time she would rather not relive. She had to keep her mind on the present and find Parker, Priss and Chris- if Chris was even here to begin with. She was starting to get the feeling that this whole thing was a set up- which for a brief moment made her doubt Priss' involvement, a doubt she silenced with a shake of her head, Priss was a champion at getting herself into trouble anyways. She should really be more worried when something went wrong and the red haired woman wasn't present; she was like a good luck charm in some ways.

The brunette woman simply walked out of the damaged door, thanking the creature for its timing at least, as she walked into an L shaped hallway, and Jill debated which direction she should go before deciding that the door without the obvious padlock was the smarter choice. Left it was then, and she paced down the hallway towards the wooden door at the other end. This one was unlocked at least and it opened to a squarish room that seemed to look down on some sort of library. Left or right, there was a door on either side and she deliberated for a moment before she decided to keep going left, it would help her keep track of where she was going without to much effort and this led to another hallway.

This hallway branched off to the right, and she moved down it pausing for a moment as one of the pale fleshy monsters darted across the end of the hall- it didn't really seem to be aware of her and without her weapons she was somewhat grateful for this. Where it went after that however was a mystery, as the area it moved too was now void of life, and she moved towards the door that it must have gone through. The door opened to what seemed to be a room full of showcases, although most of what was stored there appeared to be crushed beyond recognition. Jill had to move a small chest of drawers out from in front of the next door before continuing into the next hall, and this hallway led out to a walkway the descended into a dining area in a way reminiscent of the Spencer mansion. So much so that she had to pause for a moment, and mark the notable differences.

Reminding herself that this was not some horrible dream or flashback, but yet another instance that she was uniquely suited for- Or at least that was the way her therapist put it.

"Jill!" came a call from below her, and she felt herself sigh in relief as her dark haired partner came into view "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, would probably be better if the ship weren't crawling with BOW's." She said descending the stairs to approach Parker.

"Isn't that the truth, well we're going to have to get our weapons." He said giving her a smile. "I saw them on my way here, I couldn't reach them on my own. The two of us should be able too though."

"Have you seen Priss?"

"No, I was hoping she might have found you." He said as the moved down the dining room, and into the one door that was unblocked, leaving behind the eerie dining room and the tables set with rotting food. The hallway they walked into had two directions they could go, one with a card reader and a panel, and another with double doors. Parker moved towards the double doors giving Jill a pained look.

"There are more BOW's in here, I think these might help." He said handing her a set of what looked to be grenades "I found them, but I'm not certain what they are exactly."

"Well, they're worth a try at least." She said grabbing one of them, the sound the BOW's wheeze like breathing was apparent even through the closed doors, prompting Jill to open them quietly for a brief look. This area seemed to be the much abused library she glimpsed from above, dark and dusty- but also residence currently of at least two of the BOW's. She carefully pulled a pin on one of the explosives and set it rolling towards a creature that had its back turned to them. The item in question blinked, and began to emit loud beeps as it hit the thing in the heel, causing the creature to turn. The other creature in the room staggered towards it as well, and within a few seconds both creatures were looking at the thing dumbly as the beeps increased.

Jill pulled the door closed after that, and blanched as a loud explosion sounded from just beyond it. A brief glimpse into the room rewarded them with the sight of two very dead BOW's and the moved through the library to the next door.

"Our weapons are in a room just up ahead." Parker said quietly as they eased the next door open, this too was a library, but less well organized then the last, and Jill found both herself and Parker dodging around bookcases as she lobbed another of the grenades at a pair of the creatures. The door in this room led to another hallway, and Parker only gestured with a hand as they both fought for breath. Their weapons were stowed behind a metal door, and it only took a little bit of physical encouragement from their boots to break the door down. All of their stuff was present, and they took some time to make sure their equipment was just so before leaving the room.

"Where to next?" Parker asked as he fiddled with a strap, cursing under his breath. "I hate it when people touch my equipment, why did he have to take it? It's going to take ages to get it to fit right again."

"We should contact HQ."

"Hmm, we should be able to do that from the bridge? What about our little friend?"

"Priss can take care of herself for the moment, she's been here for three days now. I have faith in her ability to keep safe."

"Alright then, well the other door in this hallway just leads back to the room I was in." Parker said as they began moving back towards the dining area. "I don't suppose you have any idea where the bridge might be?"

"Not really, although there was a padlocked door that we might want to investigate. It was back near the room I was in."

"Well, it's as good a lead as any." He admitted, pushing the door to the dining room open and both jumped as the noise of door handle moving, a door opposite of them bore a weird wheel like handle that spun for a moment before unlatching, and both agents had their guns drawn as the door opened to reveal… A red haired woman who was definitely looking the worse for wear.

"Priss!"

"Jill, Parker!" The woman said letting the door close behind her as she moved to meet them in the middle of the room. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

"I can guess," Jill quipped back.

"What happened to you guys, and hell where's Chris?" Priss asked rubbing her bad arm lightly.

"Chris isn't here, I don't know what that was- but that definitely was not him."

"What?"

"It was a trap," Parker clarified, "Dummy dressed up to look like him, full of knock out gas. Touching it triggered the gas to release."

"And after that all I can remember is seeing that guy in a gas mask." Jill added with a frown.

"Guy in a gas mask?" Priss said hand coming up to tap her lip, "I think I saw our friend then, he was going the way I just came. Glad I missed that bit of fun."

"Does that happen to be the direction of the Bridge?" Parker questioned, before adding. "Do you know where the bridge is actually."

"No and yes, the bridge isn't far- but our friend wasn't headed there, although-" She trailed off before answering. "There are a lot of side passages that I don't know about."

"Well, in any case we should head towards the bridge and try and contact someone." Jill said and Priss waved them up the stairs after her.

* * *

I ran my good hand through my hair as we moved down the same hallways I'd used when we were fleeing, muttering to myself about how stupid I was. It was easier to find my way now that there was something I recognized- and with the keys I made short work of a padlock that someone had used to lock the door between us, and the elevator. I had to give it a puzzled look, who'd done that and why?

The elevator was as slow as it had been before, and I stepped out hesitantly letting Jill and Parker take the lead as we walked down the corridor. This led to a locker room, and beyond that was another passageway with a watertight door. Beyond that stood the bridge, and the bridge was well disconcertingly empty- and dark. I moved to the right as Jill went to inspect the comms equipment, there was a stairway down and a door to an observation deck, but I ignored both in favor of looking out the window into the dark night sky.

"Shit, someone destroy the com and the controls." Jill said, hitting the now useless equipment and I sighed running a hand over my face. Things just kept getting better didn't they?

"This is recent, the perpetrator can't be far." Parker commented after a brief inspection, I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic in response but found myself dropping to the floor as an explosion rocked the ship.

"Fuck!"

"Please tell me that wasn't the tugboat?" Jill said with a pained expression on her face, and I stood to look out through the window again. I gave her an expression that was half 'Well shit' and half 'I don't know what to say.'

"Shit! We'll be stuck here!" Parker said, and both he and Jill moved to- what I wasn't sure but they were halfway across the control room before I thought to join them. But their footsteps weren't the only ones I heard and that made me pause- a figure moved out of the stairway towards Jill rapidly, shining a flashlight at her before he grabbed the woman from behind and I fumbled for my gun as Parker pulled his. I could see that the man was shining his light in Parker's eyes, and I pulled my pistol quietly moving in behind him.

He clearly hadn't seen me, and I wasn't going to give myself away. Jill struggled, finally kicking up in a motion that made me think I needed to take more yoga, before pulling away from her attacker with a gut punch that made him drop his light. The man dropped to the ground in a crouching, and I could see him reaching for a weapon as Parker ordered him to freeze. Then in a startlingly familiar voice the man said.

"Why don't you drop yours Parker."

"Who the hell are you?" And the man pulled his weapon, while lifting his head.

A shot range through the night air.

* * *

 **End Notes:** Okay so in the game, Jill finds a screwdriver in the bathtub which is not unpredictable for a Resident evil game. But it isn't terribly realistic, so I changed it up just a little bit hope no one minds. To be honest I bought both this RE Revelations 1 and RE Revelations 2 on sale only recently, and I was pleasantly surprised at how close it is to the older resident evil games. I've been a fan of the franchise since- jeeze what was it 1998? But I didn't really hear good things about Operation Raccoon city or 6 so I worried that I would have to see one of my fav franchises go down in flames. I can't really say yay or nay on those two, but both Revelations are pretty damn good. Also Claire, there isn't enough Claire out there.


	4. Chapter Three: Ghosts of Veltro

**A/N:** I would like to mention that for the backstory I'm going with for our characters, Raymond and Priss that is- most of it is something I've come up with myself. If I get the chance to finish this fic, I intend to write more- something about the Raccoon city timeline maybe. But for now we'll just see how this goes. As an update to this comment, definitely keep an eye out for future works, because this is getting written dang it.

* * *

 **Updated:** 2/2/2017

 **Chapter Three: Ghosts of Veltro**

* * *

 _ **I have become acquainted** **with the ghost(s) of** **your existence; their** **jagged teeth leave marks** **where you used to kiss me.** \- untitled, keith mangana_

 _The Bridge 9:00 PM_

A shot range through the night air, and I jumped as it barely missed me giving Parker a look that was somewhere in the range of 'Are you trying to kill me?' Talk about jumping the gun, I was still an unknown to the strange man so I said nothing, but my mind was distinctly unimpressed with the situation at hand.

"Raymond." Parker said and I felt the name hit me like a punch in the gut, it wasn't a common one so the sound of it still held true to the ghost of a man I once knew. I shook it off, ignoring the nagging doubt in the back of my head trying to overlay parallels. I need to focus and people didn't stop trying to kill you if you got distracted, "That's you, isn't it?"

The red haired man, for I could tell now that he did have red hair let out a small ironic laugh.

"The BSAA?" He questioned his gun still in hand now pointing towards the ceiling, perhaps he PArker hadn't been the only one to jump the gun here, "A little too late."

"What is the FBC doing here?" Parker questioned, but the man only laughed again as he stood. The sound of it sent chills up my spine, and I swallowed harshly against the lump in my throat.

"I don't have to say anything." The man quipped back in cockey assurance, moving slowly to holster his gun. "You have no authority over this."

"There's no time to fight, we've got to-" Jill began but Raymond interrupted her with a wave of his hand "Give a rest. You don't even know why you're here or who you're fighting."

"Raymond! Tell us what you know." Parker demanded, gun still aimed.

"Nothing will change. Unless you get your hands dirty." Was his only reply as he shook his head before moving to leave- and that's when I pressed the barrel of my gun against his back.

"I suggest answering his questions." I said quietly, and in a split second the tables turned. My wrist was grabbed and I was shoved to the ground, face hitting metal as a knee was pressed painfully into my back. My bad arm sent lances of pain through my back as he applied pressure, and I felt the tell tale signs of an oncoming bloody nose.

"PRISS!" I heard from somewhere in the background as my head dipped and swayed unnaturally. I was going to have nice lump somewhere. "Get off of her you asshole."

"She attacked me what was I supposed to do."

I was so not a field agent, I had my strengths but hand to hand combat? Not one of them. Now give me a knife- well I'd just have to save that thought for later, this was going on a complaint form somewhere. Hell I was going to make the FBC's lawyers very unhappy in the near future, because I would be sending complaints like whoa- well documented complaints that would have this asshole stuck doing paperwork until the day he retired. The pressure on my ribs was removed, and I coughed painfully as the hand on my good arm was released. Unceremoniously I was flipped over by someone's foot and I gathered breath to give the man an earful, but whatever I had to say died the moment my eyes made contact with the red headed man in question.

Shock, complete and utter shock. There was no other way to explain it; I mean how often does a person meet someone the thought was dead? Well okay, I owed Jill a steak or something because she deserved better- actually, well all of my friends did. But that wasn't really something I had much of a choice in- I had no idea how to contact them after all was said and done. But this, this hurt on a visceral level- because Raymond I was certain was _dead_ and now he wasn't. He wasn't and it was like he'd died again because it hurt to realize that I'd been away from him for years, and that was a gap I was sure I could do anything about.

And he- he was looking at me like someone would look at something unfathomable, and I was getting gross nose blood all over everything something in my mind added in, unhelpfully.

"Shit." I said pinching the bridge of my nose with one hand and tilting my head back. I did not want to leave a blood spore trail anywhere on this wreck. That might attract hunters, and god knew what else.

"Here." Jill said pulling some bandages out of her pouch and pressing them to my face, my view was blocked, and I heard footsteps ignoring them in favor of stopping the bleeding. A few moments passed, and the bleeding tapered and ceased. I pulled the soiled material away from my face carefully, grimacing as blood uncrusted and flaked away from my skin.

"Ugh, bloody noses are the worst." I commented as Parker returned my weapon to me, I holster it awkwardly with one hand trying not think about how bad I must have looked. "Do you have any water I can use?"

"Yeah," Jill said handing me her canteen and I used some clean portions of the bandages to wipe away the worst of the blood. "Gotta say that wasn't a fantastic show of skill my friend."

"I tired." I said sheepishly. "Do I at least get a gold star?"

"And a ribbon," Jill said with a small amount of humor.

"Didn't anyone ever teach to not get that close to a suspect?" Parker said with a bit of paternal displeasure, as if he were scolding a child.

"I'm not really a field agent." I said with a sigh and a shrug, I wasn't and it showed. Painfully in this case, I was just fucking lucky that I wasn't- no, my skills for survival outweighed my ability to recognize them. I would be the first to admit that; I had no formal combat training, which made me a disaster, but my ability to survive and thrive in cases of BOW outbreak was a skill to be proud of. Not everyone can go rushing in, sometimes it takes a cautious individual to find the right key or know the right path to take. My gun skills were shaky because I refused to use them, not because I couldn't use them. There were plenty of people in the world who wanted to fight big bad evil corporations, I just.. Wanted to spend the rest of my days in peace, after Raccoon, after Rockfort I never really had an inkling to do or see much.

Not when you've already seen too much.

"So I take it you knew him?" Parker asked quietly after a brief silence.

"Yeah, me and Red go way back." I answered honestly, I mean he had been my best friend- hell I still considered him my best friend even when I thought he was dead.

"Wait, Red? You mean he's-" Jill said quietly and I only nodded in confirmation, she knew me well enough to put two and two together. But I didn't really know Parker that well, and unless he directly asked I didn't feel like sharing. I was also berating myself silently, even as we moved on from the bridge following the route that Raymond had apparently taken. I should have known better then to take _That Bastard_ at face value, after all there was only one cardinal rule that I held to when dealing with him and that was ' _he always lies'_ what was I expecting really. That suddenly he would find sympathy in his black heart for little ol' me? I mean clearly Jill and Chris were still alive, expecting Raymond to be alive wasn't too much of a stretch after that.

I abandoned these thoughts for the moment as unproductive, helping Jill and Parker search the two rooms that were down this hallway for clues. Raymond was nowhere to be found, and I had the hankering suspicion that the elevator that we couldn't get to work might have been his ticket to wherever he'd gone.

"So," Jill said after we checked over what seemed to be captains office, "The FBC is on this ship too. What could possibly be going on here."

"I don't know, and I don't like it." Parker said as we moved back into the bridge, "We're operating without any intel; we should search the ship for answers. Not that I relish the idea."

"We can try going through the grand ballroom?" I said quietly, "It's supposed to link up several different areas."

"Well, thatis better than nothing I guess." Parker said giving me a 'lead the way' gesture.

"How did you figure that one out?" Jill asked.

"Been there before, plus I ran into the communications officer about a day ago?" I said in a question form, I wasn't sure now how long ago it had been. I was starting to lose time, and that was not good. "OH! That reminds me, he said that you can get to the communication deck from there- not that I've had much luck making it back to the grand ballroom anyways."

"Why is it far?"

"Not really, I'll have to tell you both the story of the crazy crew member at some point." I said, fiddling with the ring on my finger nervously. That guy. "So how do you know Raymond?"

"He was just a cadet in the FBC a year ago," Parker said, "A good kid, kinda idealistic. But the Terragrigia incident affected us all pretty badly. He was always pretty quiet before that though, never really social."

"That sounds about right," I commented idly as we moved through the dining room, and I spun the stupid door handle.

"You said you knew him?" Parker said, "Are you family?"

It was a common enough question when I was growing up, so much so that it was a bit of a bittersweet reminder of better times.

"Nah, although we totally look it don't we?" I said tugging at the long ends of my hair, I usually kept it cut short- it was just easier to work with, but I'd been lazy lately and for the moment it was long and being held back in a ponytail. "He was my best friend growing up, small town, two red headed brats in the same grade? You bet we were thick as thieves. My parents weren't… Great at being parents, so his parents sorta took me in. We use to be able to do this really neat twin act, was great for creeping people out. That ended in middle school though, he started growing like a weed."

I finished that sentence with a snort, he'd gone all gangly teenager hitting 6'0 by the eighth grade, while I was stuck at the same height I'd been since the end of sixth. I pulled the door open, revealing the small passage with an identical door on the other side and I went to work opening that one as well.

"He never did say much about his family." Parker said, half comment and half question.

"He wouldn't really," I said quietly "His parents died in a crash not long after we graduated high school, so it was just kind of him and me until the Raccoon city thing."

"I didn't realize he was in Raccoon." Parker said quietly frowning "He never said anything."

"He wasn't, but I was." I said going quiet, "I went hiking with some friends, but he had to work. Ended up in the hospital for two weeks- I only pulled my knee but Umbrella was afraid I'd talk. So I was pretty much stuck until things went crazy. When I got home he was gone, no one knew where he went and I kind of assumed the worst. We only lived one town over, it wasn't a stretch to think he'd gone to get me when things went bad."

"Thats gotta be tough, didn't he come back?"

"He might have, but I didn't really stay still after that. Kinda got picked up by Umbrella again because I was helping out these guys." I said jerking a thumb at Jill.

"Kinda the reason I'm surprised you aren't dead actually." Jill commented as the next door opened and we walked out into the Grand Ballroom.

"Now this is what I call a cruise ship." Parker said as the three moved towards the railing. "It's like an Opera house in here!"

Jill let out a low whistle, and I took the moment to lean against the railing half because I was exhausted, and half because I wanted a better look at the gold plated clock that was taller than a single story building. I wanted to take it home with me.

"We're do you think this emergency communications room is?" Parker asked after a moment, and I pointed towards a door I'd seen earlier- you see the Casino led directly into the grand ballroom and I'd only chosen to go into the dining room because quite frankly it won the Innie minie contest- or maybe I was following my stomach who knows. It had taken me a few minutes of deliberating and searching to decide where I would go, there were four different doors I could take to get to various parts of the ship from here. One door led to the dining room of course, one to the casino, one to the Promenade and one to the communications room.

"Probably the one that says communications," I said jokingly, Parker only bumped my shoulder good mannered way and I felt grateful that he appreciated the humor as we walked towards the door. It was covered by an ornate cage with the Lifebuoy mark on it and I moved to pull the key from the key ring.

"So that's how you've been getting around." Jill commented, "I have to say I was curious, how'd you manage to get those?"

"When me and my partner-" I paused for a moment, choking on the word before forcing myself passed it. I didn't have time for that right now. "When I boarded we met with some sort of VIP, he had them in his pocket. He ah, didn't make it."

I finished this sentence a bit awkwardly, pushing the key into the lock it slid in and I tried to turn it but for some reason it wouldn't budge. I pulled the key out, and discovered the problem.

"Shit."

"What is it?" Jill asked grabbing Parker's attention as well, he'd been looking at a piece of paper posted next to the door.

"Damn thing is broken," I said showing her the key, most of it was fine but one of the teeth was snapped off entirely and I didn't know any way to fix that.

"Well crap." Jill said and grimaced at the piece of metal as if it had done me a personal wrong. Could it have happened when Raymond tackled me? I wasn't sure, all I knew was that it was useless now. I put the keys back in my pocket with a frown, turning to the others.

"What do you think we should do next?"

"We can't get in here without a key, or a blowtorch." Jill said looking at the metal grate.

"What no lockpicks?"

"Not this time, I swear I am never forgetting to bring them again."

"Well, at least Barry isn't here to make a joke about being the master of unlocking things."

"Don't you dare tell him about this Priss." Jill said holding up a warning finger, I made a show of debating it before giving her a crooked grin. Maybe not, for now at least.

"We could look for the comms officer." Parker suggested, pointing at the piece of paper on the wall. "Say's he's in the promenade?"

"Hopefully he's still alive." Jill agreed, "Where is the promenade?"

"Just down there." I said with a gesture.

* * *

 _The Grand Ballroom 9:20_

The Promenade was shuttered and locked tight via the main route, but thankfully Priss was able to unlock the employee's entrance on the right even as an eerie voice echoed through the corridor, repeating the same words again and again.

"Can either of you make out when he's saying?" Priss asked Jill as they moved down the corridor and into a deck overlooking that main thoroughfare.

"Something about the Queen Zenobia…" Parker answered with a grimace.

"I don't like this, that just doesn't sound right," Priss paused halfway through her sentence giving Jill a look. "It doesn't sound human you know."

"You're right, I don't think we should let our guard down." Jill agreed as the walked along the balcony. The promenade was styled to look like a fancy shopping district- more akin to something you would find in Paris or New Orleans then on a cruise ship. Fancy wrought iron fencing lined the walkway they were on, molded to a wall that was styled to look like a stone and brick building. There was a staircase on the other side of the walkway that seemed to lead down, but the main thoroughfare was again blocked- this time by a piled mass of chairs and tables in what appeared to be a makeshift barricade. There was another way around- beneath the walkways was a small room with a door that led to the other side of the barricade, but it was locked and apparently another door that required the lifebuoy key.

"Well…" Jill said quietly, "What do you think Parker?"

"There was that shutter, we could try seeing if we could lift it."

"I'm not sure I'll be of much use." Priss commented looking at the heavy emergency shutter they'd come to stand in front of, it had for some reason stopped with about a foot of room between it and the floor, leaving a decent gap for them to take advantage of. The question was, how would the proceed.

"You should probably wait here Priss" Jill agreed looking to Parker for agreement. "I don't like the idea of all three of us being stuck on the other side of that thing, and if we have to make a hasty retreat you might not..."

"Be able to keep up?" she snorted, "I guess you're right- you okay with that Parker?"

Parker nodded, and the red headed woman moved to look out over the balcony.

"I'll keep an eye on things from here," Priss said rummaging in her pack for something, she pulled out a handful of explosives and gave the brunette a smile. "If it looks like you're in trouble, just come running."

This made Jill smile, and she made a mental note to remember not to give the red head anymore explosives. This was oddly reminiscent of an incident that had happened before; who kept giving Priss things that could go boom anyways? The two BSAA agents moved towards the shutter, kneeling to grab the edge of it before lifting, a mighty pull later and the two of them were scrambling beneath the heavy metal door to the other side before it slammed shut behind them.

"Everything okay over there?" The heard Priss call out to them, and Jill called out a 'We're okay' in response. The noise was much closer now, and the two of them moved slowly down the corridor towards a room at the other end. The rattle of a chain against metal resounded suddenly through the air making both agents jump but they pressed on- the walkway itself was shaped like an L, but there was also a staircase at the other end of it and a doorway that led into a room that they would have to explore later. The door they were head towards now was opposite of the metal shutter, and it was also clearly the source of the voice and noises.

Within that room there seemed to be some form of closet, and the closet was where the person, or thing was contained. A heavy red padlock barely managing to keep a set of chains looped around the door handle and Jill gave Parker a questioning look as it shuddered ominously-he nodded in response before Jill gave the bent and abused lock a good resounding kick. It gave under this final assault and for a moment there was only silence as the chain slid to the ground and the door swung open with a groan to reveal- well for a moment neither Jill nor Parker could put a name to it. But whatever the hulking grey monster was, it garnered the immediate response of two veteraned BSAA members making them book it out of the room with due haste.

The creature shrieked as it lumbered out of the closet after them, before repeating in an almost human voice the same distress call that it had been uttering over and over. Both agents ran to the far side of the walkway before spinning and unleashing a hail of gunfire. The grey skinned creature let out another shriek, before it charged at them with one strange circular appendage raised.

"Holy-crap what is that?" Came Priss' voice from the other walkway as the creature moved. It oblong appendage unbalancing it even as it began to spin, and Jill dodged down the staircase away from it as Parker took the opposite route into the open door of the building next to them. The BOW moved to follow Jill as she ran down under the walkway, and towards the walkway that Priss was standing on.

"You still have those explosives Priss?"

"Is the pope catholic?" Came the response, and Priss tossed the woman her a grenade before pulling out a second one.

"I have a plan!" Jill shouted as Parker came running down another staircase, this one inside of the building to join her and the BOW reached the bottom of the staircase, it was thankfully slow and that was something Jill could use to her advantage. "Priss, aim for its mouth. I'll try to distract it."

"Got it!" She said, and Jill pocket the grenade just in case bringing her gun up to bear. Drawing the attention of the thing, and for a moment it stumbled around drunkenly before building up into a charge, slamming into the center medium and wobbling dangerously before shrieking and charging again.

"Is that a fucking chainsaw?" Jill swore she heard from above her but ignored as she shot at the BOW, luring it towards the the walkway. Parker kicked a table into its way as it charged Jill again, as close to the walkway as she dared and she dodge away.

"NOW PRISS!"

The woman in question pulled the pin on the explosive with a resounding ring, spiking it down into the vast gaping mouth of the creature and Jill bolted towards Parker, diving into the building for cover only seconds before an explosion range out. Her ears for a moment seemed def in the aftermath of the explosion, and she hesitated before looking around the doorway. Where a thing had been, now sat only a mass of grey and red flesh sans head- that seemed to be a rather permanent way to make sure that the thing wouldn't trouble anyone anymore.

"You alright Priss?" Jill called up rubbing her ears, everything sounded much too quiet after such a blast. The redhead stood from her spot giving Jill a thumbs up, and Parker joined Jill as they moved to inspect the creature. While it had clearly once been a person, there was very little to show for it save for a ripped and distorted hawaiian shirt that the thing was somehow still wearing. Jill crouched, ignoring the rancid smell that the carcass was giving off in favor of searching the things lone pocket. She was rewarded with a key, and what seemed to be an identification card.

"Damien Santos?" She said, before dropping the card back onto the creature in question.

"Shit." Was the only reply from above them, and Jill looked up.

"Someone you knew?"

"Comms officer," she said looking troubled. "He was actually a really nice guy, I was hoping he would make it through this shit. Not like the crazy I ran into around the crew deck- man I get the creeps just thinking about that."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, It can't be helped." The duo took the chance to look around the rest of the promenade before returning to the walkway above, Lifebuoy key in hand. The took a moment to rest at a convenient table, and to Jill at least the image of the three of them sitting around a delicate table in what looked like a tourists paradise dressed in wetsuits struck her as entirely too surreal.

"I hope the equipment in that room works." Jill said stretching one of her legs, and then the other.

"Don't say that." Priss said in a pained voice, face lowering into her hands as if the thought physically painful.

"Not to gang up on you Jill, but your bad predictions tend to come true." Parker added, taking a sip from his canteen.

"Critics." She snipped back, glad for the banter, they moved out again soon after, back toward the grand ballroom and the emergancy comms office. This key thankfully worked, and the trio walked in through the double door ensemble to find an all too familiar red headed male.

"Raymond."

The man turned to face the group, eyes sweeping over Jill, and Parker, resting on Priss for only a brief moment before returning to Parker.

"Looks like we're both too late then."

"What are you talking about?" Parker replied and Raymond only gestured at the controls with an ironic laugh and a shrug. But it was Priss that caught her attention, the red haired woman seemed to stagger towards one of the chairs before mechanically grabbing it and sinking down onto the thing like a person who'd denied a sip of water in the desert. It had been easy to miss before, as they were fighting or walking through dimmed corridors, but now that Jill had a good look at the woman she realized that perhaps her friend needed a break. Her features were pale and pinched with pain, eyes bloodshot sporting heavy bags that made her resemble a raccoon. Her breath was short and labored, and Jill kick herself mentally as she realized that the woman was in a lot more pain then she was letting on.

* * *

 _Emergency Communications Room 10:09_

The destruction in communications room hit me like an almost physical blow, and I staggered a bit, garnering the rooms attention. I ignored it choosing instead to grab one of the sad abandoned rolling chairs and sit down. I sank into the soft padded surface, and Jill came up to stand next to me, setting a hand on my good shoulder. I rested my face in my hand, fighting off an odd sense of vertigo.

"Are you okay Priss?" she asked quietly and I took a deep breath before answering.

"Yeah, I just need a moment." I said sitting back, a noise from one of the speakers made me jump, and we all look up to see that one of the screens had come to life.

"Ignorant creatures who do not yet know of us, the time has come." Said a man on the screen wearing a familiar gas mask, "Thou wilt that I renew The desperate grief, which wrings my heart already To think of only, ere I speak of it."

"Our little masked friend." I heard Parker whisper from behind me, as the man on screen continued, pulling a syringe from his vest he moved towards a tank while speaking the very picture of a mad showman.

"This is the T-Abyss Virus, and we are equipped to infect one fifth of the earth's waters." He said before injecting the substance into the tank, which garnered an immediate effect on the fish within, mutating them into violent fanged creatures- I had to make a joke about killer guppies didn't I? "And even a child could guess what will happen next."

The man pulled the mask away from his face, revealing a grizzled old man.

"We are Veltro, vengeful messengers from the depths of the inferno. 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here.'"

* * *

Ending Notes: In RE:R we don't really get to see what makes Raymond tick, but I think the lines he does give us are very telling. Before Parker left the FBC he was almost idealistic, which I extrapolate from his "I can still fight." And even his attitude of "Leave me behind, I'm injured and I'll just slow you down." and afterwards- well we hear in reports that he is suddenly much more intense, rough with suspects, suddenly pushing to be noticed. That sort of sudden personality change doesn't say a person who is cruel by nature- but more that he has seen trauma, and doesn't know how to deal with it. Or alternatively that he doesn't want the same thing to happen again, and that he is deliberately courting the wrong sort of attention, it was from what I can see part of his plan with O'brian.


	5. Chapter Four: A Nightmare Revisited

A/N: This is me, this is me trying not to melt as I write because everything is too damn hot. This is me glowering at my computer because the keyboard is too damn hot. Blargh. I may have to migrate to a colder clime. Why don't I have wings man? Having said that, I would like to mention that the heat that my region is currently dealing with is having an adverse affect on my computer. So I will try to update as often as possible, but I can't really guarantee anything.

Updated: 2/6/2017

* * *

Allure and Darkness

Chapter Four: A Nightmare Revisited

* * *

" _I always marvel at the humans' ability to keep going. They always manage to stagger on even with tears streaming down their faces."_

—

 _Markus Zusak, The Book Thief_ _(via wordsnquotes)_

 _BSAA Control Room_

"We are Veltro, vengeful messengers from the depths of the inferno. 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here.'"

The words seemed echo through the dimly lit control room, as the screen faded to black and the people present looked to each other in concern, one older man stood in the center of the control room expression grave- He could only hope his gamble would pay off. A beep came in on his radio and for a moment he was hesitated to answer it, before pressing the button reluctantly.

"O'brian, you need to send a team to Valkoinen Mokki Airport." Came Chris' voice, and the man breathed a sigh of relief. "Look for something linked to this ship O'brian."

"Yes I read you." The man affirmed, turning to the two remaining agents in the command room. "I'll send Quint and Keith."

"What!?" Came the surprised voice of his tech specialist, and O'brian only gave the man that said 'don't argue.'

"You two, get ready to move."

"Aww man, I hate the snow." The bespeckled man said dropping his coffee cup on the polished surface of his desk. Quint Catcham was hardly a field man, but the duo proved to be a superior force when it came to investigation and data collection- This was there arena, even if it was away from home.

"Che, snow hates you." Keith threw back in a teasing manner- Keith Lumley unlike his partner was an excellent field agent and O'brian didn't doubt for a second that the two would get the job done.

"Just find anything you can on Veltro. We need intel, and we need it fast."

The chief of the BSAA left the room with a sigh, walking up to his office with doubts weighing heavily in his mind. He was playing it close to the vest, and if he wasn't careful he would lose everything. The true question was this- did the ends justify the means? He couldn't say, and that is what haunted him.

* * *

 _Somewhere in The Mediterranean_

The impact of his fist on the console didn't really help the situation, but it did make Parker feel better, at least briefly.

"Damn Terrorists!"

"We killed these bastards already," Raymond said leaning against the wall with a hard to read expression on his face. His eyes darted from the screen, to Jill and then Parker in rapid succession, settling finally on Priss with sympathy.

"Well it looks like you missed a few, and they're on this ship." Jill said quietly looking to her partner.

"And now they want to use the virus to stage another attack." Parker said looking back at the brunette.

"They seek the truth about Terragrigia… And vengeance." The tall man said, his voice certain. But there seemed to be more there, as if he was was holding back his emotions. This seemed to break Priss from her stupor, and she looked at him for a moment- and the two locked eyes, but only for that moment before he tore his gaze away and stormed out of the room. The red headed woman bowed her head again rubbing her hand over her face.

"What do you think we should do next?" Came Priss' tired voice, and both BSAA members looked at the girl with uncertainty.

"Well, it looks like the ship's power is dying." Parker said as the control panel started to dim, "I don't know if you have any idea where we could find the engine room, but the whole ship seems to be running on emergency power. The comms system from here is fried, but there seems to be one that we can use on a deck above the bridge. But it requires the main power. We need to get the engine running again."

"That won't be easy." Jill commented, and Priss lifted her head looking at the two.

"I can take you there, there's a shortcut through the casino." The woman said, attempting to stand. She managed a shaky half stand before sitting down in the chair again. "Nope, nope. Okay one more time."

She attempted to stand again but had the same result, and for a moment she only stared at the chair with a betrayed look.

"Here, give us directions." Jill said grabbing a random piece of paper off a shelf and a pen.

"No, no I can do this. I just have to think outside of the walking." The redhead said with a tired smile, and she promptly began rolling her chair backwards over the carpet. "And we're walking."

"You don't give up easily do you?" Parker said shaking his head, the trio walked- or in one case rolled out the door to find the Raymond waiting for them.

"Raymond?" Jill said giving the man an uncertain look, he seemed to be for the moment at least composed, rather then seething with pent up anger. The man held up a key to her silently, and it was silver with an anchor emblem on it and she reached for it hesitantly.

"Take it, you might need it. I heard what you said, and you're right. Turning on the power won't be easy."

"Thanks."

"It should get you through the Casino on the first floor. After that you shouldn't have any problem finding the lift to the bilge," He hesitated for a moment before continuing "Have you seen any other FBC members here? I can't reach my partner Rachel… Damn it."

"Not that I can think of honestly." She answered, although she did question the woman she'd seen earlier in the infirmary. But Jill wasn't certain if the woman was his partner and not just another member of crew, telling him that she might be dead would be… Bad, so she chose to keep her peace on the subject for the moment. "We can keep an eye out for her on our way though."

"Thank you, she was suppose to be headed towards the bilge so you'll probably have better luck finding her then I will." JIll made to move towards the casino, but stopped short before looking at her companions.

"Priss, I want you to stay here."

"What, Jill come on." Priss said in protest with a pout.

"No, you know why you have to stay here. I know you mean well. But you're done in, you need to rest."

"It's not as bad as racoon." The redhead said giving her a petulant look.

"I know, but this isn't racoon. You can rest, nothing is chasing us this time." Jill said putting her hands on her hips. "Besides, we've tried your 'Aggressively rolling at something' before and it doesn't work."

"It worked once." She said in all seriousness.

"Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?" Parker said sharing a lost look with Raymond.

"It's a long story." The girls a said in union before sharing a laugh.

"You have a lot of long stories." Parker commented dryly.

"I'll have to tell you sometime, there great." She said waving her hand at them in a shooing motion. "Go, go before I change my mind."

"Oh? And what are you going to do wheels, menace our ankles?" Jill said over her shoulder as the walked away.

"Don't downplay the ankle attacks man. I am like an ankle assassin!" She heard shouted back at her as she walked down the stairs, slipping the key into the appropriate door.

* * *

 _Casino_

The room was pretty dark when Jill and Parker walked into it, lit only vaguely by what appeared to be emergency lighting. Jill clicked on her flashlight shedding some more light on the area, polished metal reflecting back at the agents as they walked down the unmoving escalators with the plink plink of rubber soles on metal. Jill moved first towards the door the led to the prize money cage, but the door wouldn't budge, she rattled it lightly before moving towards the only other door in the room.

A resounding crash and Jill leapt away from the door as something collided with it again, another moment passed and the thing on the other side of the door seemed to settle once more. Jill eased out of her shooting stance with a look at Parker, and they shared a silent sigh of relief. Moving on she decided to try the only other door in the place- but the thick metal thing wouldn't budge, and Jill for a moment contemplated going back to Priss to borrow her keys.

"There has to be a way to get in there, Priss said she came from this direction right?"

"And Raymond's partner is suppose to be this way," Jill said, looking around. "Do you think it has something to do with the power being out?"

"That might be it. Try and look for a switch, I'll start looking over here." Parker said moving to look near the escalators, Jill on the other hand spotted a rather obvious switch immediately and with a sideways look and with only minor hesitation flipped it up. The room came to life immediately, and for a moment the brunette was blinded by the sudden glamour and sparkle.

"Ugh, remind me not to do that again." She said rubbing her eyes.

"Let me check the door."

* * *

 _Grand Ballroom_

The sound of a door closing, seemed to be the que for a lengthy awkward silence to stretch between the red headed duo, and for long time it seemed that the only one talking was the oversized grandfather clock.

"So," Raymond started hesitantly before trailing off.

"Raymond." I said tiredly.

"Priscilla." He said back, and I could already tell he was feeling just as odd footed as I was- we hadn't been on first name basis since… Well ever. It sounded wrong coming out of his mouth.

"I-" I said moving a hand to rub my shoulder before stopping. "I don't suppose you could take a look at my shoulder."

And like that I threw him something he could work with, Raymond took paramedic courses when I started college. Injuries prompted his professional side to come out, so it was a mixed blessing. You would think we would be ecstatic to see each other again, and yet… It had been several years of unknown, several years of acceptance and pain. I didn't know if we could fix what was broken here- and I wasn't speaking about my shoulder. If I could use both hands I would totally be doing the awkward turtle. He worked to remove the makeshift sling and bandage holding my shoulder in place, and fingers probing gently.

"Your wetsuit is too thick for me to feel it properly but, I think it's only dislocated." He said and I unzipped my wetsuit, it took both of us to get my arm out of the skin tight suit. At one point he coughed awkwardly and I only gave him a look.

"What?"

"Your, ah not wearing anything under this- I wasn't expecting that."

"Like you've never seen my boobs before." I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Well I wasn't expecting- nevermind," He said before checking my shoulder again, "Yeah it's definitely dislocated. I'll have to pop it back into place."

"This is going to be fun." I said sarcastically, for anyone who didn't know- a dislocated joint can often feel worse than a broken bone, and putting it back into place was usually the hard part. Not just because you were trying to shove a ball into a hole that was meant to keep things in place- but also because you could and would feel all of it. It could be done wrong, and that would result in damage to nerves or worse. But even if you did it right, it would still hurt like hell.

"You might want something to bite down on, and we'll have to move somewhere that's more stable." Raymond said and we moved to sit on the stairs, I was still exhausted but we managed and I ended up I balling up some of the bandages to bite down on. "Try to keep your arm relaxed."

Firm hands pressed on my shoulder just so applying pressure, but with this pressure came pain a sharp white hot stabbing and I nearly cried in relief when I felt an odd pop, and the majority of the pain faded.

"This should help, but we'll still have to put your arm in a sling until you see a doctor. It'll be at least a few weeks before you can use it again." Raymond said finally, helping me to slip my arm back into my wetsuit. I could feel and move my fingers again, which was a major improvement, no more numbing pain. We made another makeshift sling out of bandages, and eventually we both ended up sitting against the base of the large clock. It was just unfortunate that having a dislocated shoulder wasn't like it was in the movies, people couldn't just magically regain the use of their arm after having it traumatically injured. It would be weeks before I could hope to use it normally, which was just fantastic- here's just hoping it didn't come back to bite me.

Another silence stretched out between us this time, but not an awkward one and I looked at our feet as we sat there- sitting here like this was probably inadvisable, defending this point would probably be the pits if a BOW attacked. But for some reason the only thing I could focus on was how silly short I was compared to him. Stork man, and old nickname to annoy him with- I honestly didn't remember falling asleep.

* * *

 _Blige Room_

After the ridiculous puzzle in the casino, Jill and Parker scaled the ladders to the bilge without complaint. Jill dropped out of the air duct onto the heavy duty grating of the floor below, Parker following quickly after and they moved to look at the lift controls.

"Here's hoping it still works." Parker said, moving to the control panel he pulled a lever garnering no response and the man frowned as he inspected the small screen nearby. "Oh Christ, the key is gone."

"Of course, I'll look around for it." Jill said, moving to inspect the lone doorway, it proved to be unlocked and the door itself led into an L shaped hallway- A trolley sat next to a lift at the other end, and Jill took a moment to search the boxes on it. But she came up empty handed, as it all appeared to be canned goods for the cafeteria. Jill pressed the call button and stepped on the lift, sighing as it pulled up slowly to its destination opening onto a floor that was all too familiar. Jill's radio beeped, and the woman pressed the receive button.

"Any luck Jill."

"No, but I have found my way back to the first level we were on."

"Hmm, didn't Raymond say his partner was suppose to be in the bilge?"

"I think I might have an idea of where she is…" Jill said trailing off as she moved towards the cafeteria, and back towards the infirmary. If the woman from earlier was this Rachel, then she might have had the key on her.

"The corpse you ran into earlier?"

"Yeah, as easy as it would make it for me, I'm just pray it wasn't her." She finished, moving around the destroyed lunch counter and towards the kitchen. The smell wasn't any better the second time around, but she managed to put it out of her mind long enough to get to the next door. Back down through the corridor that led to the trap room, pushing open the door to the stairs, she passed a small bundle of dropped supplies. The shift and groan of the ship was much more apparent here then it had been on the inner levels of the ship, and she found herself re-adjusting to it as pushed open the door at the top of the stairs.

She didn't bother going into the bunk room this time, and decided to go ahead and climb over the debris in the way. Down passed the laundry room, through the door and down the stairs to the infirmary. Something however made her pause as she rounded the corner to the infirmary, something was different and for a moment she couldn't put her finger on it. She had only seen this corridor once before, and Jill had seen enough of this ship tonight to be sick of it, but there was something off. A cool breeze that hadn't been in the corridor prior made her look to the left and she realized that the watertight bulkhead- which had definitely been closed before, wasn't now.

"That's strange," She remarked to herself, suddenly wishing that Parker hadn't stayed behind. She shook it off and turned to the infirmary door, entering the room. The woman was still up against the wall, and still very much dead. More so now then she had been, as odd it might sound- Jill was certain the woman hadn't been head-shot when she was here before. She searched the body and came up with not only the key she was looking for, but proof positive that this poor woman had been Rachel.

She raised Parker's radio, waiting for an answer.

"Jill?"

"I found Rachel and the key. I was right."

"Well, at least we put that mystery to rest. Raymond won't be happy, but it's better then not knowing."

"There is something else, as weird as it sounds. I don't think I'm alone here." She said looking around, she hadn't seen or heard anything- yet there was still the feeling that she was being watched, followed even. She didn't like it.

"Do you want me to meet you somewhere?"

"Yeah, if this turns out to be our little masked friend I don't want to find out the hard way."

"I'm on my way."

Jill gripped her pistol tightly and left the infirmary, this was when things got strange. The passage she knew, had been clear on her way to the infirmary- but she was very suddenly and painfully reminded not to let her guard down as a spiky limbed creature swung at her and only barely missed, leaving a long painful slash on her arm- she dodged back and away before unleashing a punishing volley of gunfire. The creature shrieked its last as she fired finally managing to hit its skull through the bony growths on its face, this one looked to be a more deadly version of the creatures she'd seen earlier; and she took a pained moment to check her wound before giving the creature more attention.

"Jill!" Came an all too familiar voice, and Parker came down the steps at a jog. "Your hurt."

"It's only a flesh wound."

"Pretty deep for a flesh wound, we should take care of this before it gets worse." He said, looking around. "The infirmary is around here somewhere right?"

"Yeah, this way."

Parker wasted no time in ransacking the place as he looked for bandages, their packs had ample supplies for injuries acquired during missions. But it was always better to use other sources when available. He made the woman sit as he applied antibiotic ointment, and a healthy layer of bandages. After this they moved on, cautiously back up the corridor through the door and into another one of the same BOW's that they'd just killed. With two of them it went down fairly quickly, and they shared a look before Jill chose to speak.

"The way here was completely clear for me, I don't understand."

"They wasn't anything here when I came this way either," Parker as they moved down the corridor hopping over the boxes. The sound of something hitting the metal of the corridor made both of them jump, and they took a moment to look around the corner cautiously. Yet another BOW- but one they had yet to see before, it had one overburdened bony arm and as Parker stepped around Jill to get a better shot it attacked. Unleashing a bony projectile that the man barely managed to dodge- This creature was more difficult to subdue, in a narrow corridor there weren't many places either of them could dodge for cover, and it had its own built in bony shield in a way. But they managed it eventually. Each corridor they took had another of the creatures, and it wasn't until they reached the elevator that Jill and Parker seemed to be able to breath, figuratively speaking.

"I don't like the implications of this."Jill mumbled as she checked over her diminished ammo supply. "I hope I can find ammo somewhere soon, my handgun is about to be useless."

"How many clips do you have left?" Parker said checking his own store.

"Two and a half." Jill said, holstering the gun as the elevator came to a stop.

"Three on my end, barely." Parker said taking point as the moved down the corridor.

"What do you think of the Raymond and his partner?" Jill asked quietly, "Do you think that Veltor fooled the FBC too?"

"Don't know." He said drawing out his reply, "Maybe they're just using whoever they can. Right now, I think it's best if we worry about getting this ship operational."

They pushed to door open to the lift room, and Jill handed Parker the lift key moving to stand in the corner. Her arm was bothering her, but she had to imagine it wasn't nearly as bad as Priss' dislocated shoulder.

"It bothering you." Parker asked, hand gripping the lever for the elevator.

"Only a slight sting, nothing too serious." She said, dropping her arm back to her side. The lift began to descend, and she turned looking down into the depths of the ship. "I hear something… Do you hear that?"

"Yes…" Parker said, cocking his gun and looking down. "Straight into the depths of hell."

* * *

Endnotes: Okay, I wanted to let you know that this chapter took a good chunk of time to finish because of the 100% humidity and high 90's we've been having for the past two days. I know it isn't a lot to some people, but I live in the northern part of our country. I am a built for cold weather, and no one in this state owns air conditioning unless their rich- or a large retail chain, so fun times.


	6. Chapter Five: Secrets Uncovered

**A/N:** I have to admit that this chapter was a bit difficult because Quint's voice hurts my ears. . So I did my best. I actually really like Quint and Keith as characters, and I appreciate that the gamemakers in this one decided to go with more average looking characters, and not just the standard 'too pretty protagonists'. People can still find Parker attractive without him being a supermodel weightlifter, or Raymond. I'm sorry I just broke my brain with a mental image I will not be sharing with the rest of the class, I'll get back to the writing.

Updated: 2/7/217

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Five: Secrets Uncovered**

* * *

 _The river always finds the sea_

 _So helplessly_

 _Like you find me_

 _We are paper boats floating on a stream_

 _And it would seem_

 _We'll never be apart._

 _~Paper Boats, Transistor_

 _Valkoinen Mokki Airport 10:20 PM_

"Burrr, it's freezing." Keith said as they finally reached the main building of the airport, ice and snow crunching beneath their heavy snow boots. The two men were waiting for the Chiefs go ahead before entering the building, and the temperature wasn't helping even with their arctic gear. Icicles festooned the shipping containers around them, reminding the pair all too vividly of their current setting, and the two of them nearly jumped when their radios alerted them to an incoming transmission. Quint tapped his recieve button with a bit more force than necessary, more because of the cold then out of irritation.

"Jackass here. We've arrived at Valkoinen Mokki."

"This is Forkball, good job." Came O'brian's voice, "Get the lay of the surroundings and continue with your mission."

"So ah," Keith said hesitantly, "How do you want us to proceed O'brian?"

"Up to you, do what you think is best." The two men shared a somewhat uneasy glance at this before nodding to each other. Both men had field experience, sure. But they had almost always been paired with one of the more senior members, someone more use to taking command and making decisions- This would be a new experience for them both. The duo approached the ranking leader of the squad now stationed at Valkoinen Mokki with a nod to the familiar man- Keith and Quint we're both special investigators, as where Jill, Chris, Jessica and Parker. The people in this squad were the heavy hitters of the BSAA, men and woman sent in to raid or clear an area. Investigators were trained to enter an area, and discover what was happening, to pick apart, analyze and solve problems that a violence couldn't.

Generally special investigators were sent in first for caution's sake, the BSAA wasn't a government run agency and as such they had very little interest in the politics of something. They only wanted to help, not get caught up in litigation and political flim flam that generally hobbled progress. A viral outbreak didn't care for politics. The man saluted, and they saluted back stopping to ask him about the situation. He was pacing back and forth at the top of a small set of steps as the approached.

"What took you so long?" The man asked jokingly.

"We're here aren't we?" Keith shot back at the man, the leader of the squad Ivan was a friendly man; the teamwork between the investigators and the squad meant that there was always a joking atmosphere between the two groups. "So, what's up with Veltro."

"Not sure." Ivan said giving the base a hard look. "We haven't found anything concrete, but then we haven't stormed the inside yet either. We're waiting on the Chief's go ahead."

"Well, that sounds like a job for us, don't it Grinder?" Quint said, running off down the stairs like an eager child.

"Wait! We haven't gotten authorization yet!"

"Don't worry about it, where on it." Keith told him, before adding "Besides, if you need someone to sniff something out, ain't no one better then Quint."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Quint said, giving the man a dirty look from the bottom of the stairs. A heavy door stopped him from going much further. Keith only gave his friend a bemused look before joining him at the bottom of the stairs, the duo managed to push the heavy double doors open with a resounding creak and groan of worn hinges and they walked inside. The room within was a dim, and a second staircase led down away from the door in a way that screamed more 'Haunted house' then 'enemy base'.

"Feels like something gonna jump out at us man." Keith said as he moved down the stairs, gripping his gun in a ready position.

"Watch your footsteps, we need to stay quiet." Quint said as the rounded the first corner, the corridor went on for about ten feet before turning again before a fallen shelf blocked the rest of it off. A doorway at least was readily accessible to the right and as Keith approached, he abruptly jumped out of his skin as Quint stumble over something with a shriek.

"Shhh! Weren't you the one who said we should stay quiet." He whispered fiercely at his partner, trying to slow his rapidly beating pulse. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he tried the door handle opening the door slowly to reveal a small vacant bunk room. Besides the bunkbeds, the only other thing of note was three very large gouges in the concrete wall- all of which were stained a deep red. "Man, I got a bad feeling bout this."

"Is that blood." Quint asked quietly.

"No it's hot sauce." His partner shot back sarcastically, and they moved through the room and out the next door. This one led out to the other side of the same blocked corridor, a deep maroon streak stretched down the center of the corridor with the occasional splatter on the wall showing that this was indeed human, as several red handprints could be seen. The first door was an easy to access electronic lock, and Keith had no trouble solving it- thanks to Jill's lessons on lock technology. The click of the lock opening prompted Quint to open the door, and the men both entered to find a small observation room, a small ramshackle bookcase set against one wall was the first sight that greeted them- followed soon by the only other item in the room worth noting, a large computer that monitored the corridors and locks.

"Hmm. We should be able to open up any locked doors from here." Keith said, pulling over a chair. The system itself looked to have dated back to the 90's technology wise, and it wasn't that difficult to release locks where needed. "Huh, the security camera's look like they have something."

He let Quint get to work pulling up anything relevant on the security feeds as he pondered the blood in the corridor. After a few minutes and a bit of swearing, Quint was ready to show him what he had.

"This is what I managed to pull from the security feeds." He said, displaying first a short clip of a freightliner getting ready to take off. Several uniformed men seemed to be scrambling to board the plane as it pulled away, but as they got close something strange happened. As if struck by thin air itself a man was flung to the ground, causing the men behind him to baulk and run in the opposite direction. Blood seemed to drip from invisible claws, staining the ground and then something seemed to slowly ripple into being- a great clawed reptilian monster.

"Is that a hunter?" Keith asked voice skeptical.

"Certainly looks like one don't it. I dunno, don't think I've ever heard of one becoming invisible before."

"Man, they never had a chance did they?" He commented as the plane they'd been watching on camera failed to properly take off and instead crashed not far from base.

"The time stamp puts that at the same time as the crash Chris reported."

"Bummer man."

"There's one more thing though man." Quint said queuing up another video, it showed the hallway they'd just entered through and both men watched as it was trashed by some unseen hand. The feed jumped to another room, showing a rounded table and some folding chairs. An empty shelf was set against the back wall, and the camera directly faced a door. Through the door a man ran, taking a moment to catch his breath- but something jostled the table making the man stand and aim his weapon. He appeared to be shaking, but didn't falter even as he looked around the room wildly.

His legs were then swept out from under him, as he was pulled beneath the table screaming before being flung against a wall.

"Wait, I think I saw something. Can you go back?" Keith said point at the screen.

"Yeah sure." They watched the clip again, and Keith pointed out an item falling from the man's pocket.

"That, you see that?"

"Yeah, wonder what it could be." Quint said, saving the footage so they could access it later.

"Only one way to find out." They left the surveillance room behind, and moved down towards the next door opening it up to reveal the room from the last portion of the video feed. This room had a wall length projector screen on one wall outside of the view of the security camera, as well as several tables that were a mess. After some searching Keith managed to unearth something that looked vaguely like a thumb drive, handing it to Quint with a bit of skepticism.

"Oh hey, this is a security token. I bet you I can use this to access the information stored in the plane's on-board computer."

"You think the computer will have anything useful?"

"Worth a try I guess."

"Now you're talking, alright let's go Quint."

* * *

 _Queen Zenobia- Bilge 10:25 PM_

The lift pulled to a stop as they reached their floor, and the noise that Jill initially have been unsure of now took on a new light- she knew that sound, and it was not a good one.

"Water."

"Yes." Parker said looking around before pointing. "I think it's coming from over there."

They stepped off the lift moving towards the long door in the wall, pushing it open to find a ladder. But as Jill moved down the ladder slowly she stopped when she realized that the dark area she initially thought was floor, was most definitely not.

"No, no, no, not good. Parker!" She said even as she eased herself down into the cold briny water.

"Jill? Oh christ is that?"

"Water, yeah. The ship is leaking."

"Shit, what the hell is Veltro playing at? First they put the virus on this ship, then they try to sink it?"

"I don't know Parker," Jill said as she moved away from the ladder slowly, "I'm not sure this was planned. Either way, we should find the bilge and see if we can pump this out. Our priority is keeping this thing afloat until we can neutralize the virus."

"Good call," He said easing into the water behind her. "Lead the way partner."

Their wetsuits insulated them against the worst cold, but it was still a bit of a shock. The flooded corridor they were in led in short order to a door- which they had a bit of trouble opening due to drag from the water, which led to another corridor that was only half flooded. The other half was above the water line, and they mounted a small staircase to get to the next door. This one thankfully led into a room that was for once, exactly what they wanted to see. Jill moved to a control panel, set just beneath a comprehensive display of the Queen Zenobia, and pressing a button on the control panel prompted an automatic response, but it wasn't really one she wanted to hear.

"Attention: There is flooding in the bilge!" Said a programed female voice, and in response Jill pushed a button labelled 'Lower All Bulkheads' but received an error noise in response followed quickly by another automated message. "The bulkheads cannot be lowered in the event of a power outage."

"We better find the engine room on the double!" Parker said, and Jill only nodded in response as she looked to a door that sat opposite of the one the entered through, Jill double timed it towards the metal door pushing it open and scanning the area before moving on. The corridor it led to, wrapped around itself before leading back down into another partially flooded corridor and Jill entered the water again with a grimace.

"Shit, it looks like the water's getting higher." She said as she realized that water that had been only mid thigh high was now at least up to her hips.

"No time to lose then." Was Parker's only response as they rounded a corner, and that is when Jill heard it. Not the water, something else- Like the distant noise of something singing beneath the water. She moved on towards the door, whipping around as she heard Parker yell turning to find him floundering in the water. Lighting quick she grabbed the back of his wetsuit, pulling him out of the water with all her strength as the man thrashed. With some help he managed to prop himself on the railing, coughing but ignoring as he seemed to search around gun poised. "Be careful Jill."

He said between fits of coughing.

"Something grabbed my legs!" That was when she saw it, a shadow beneath the waves- and the noises, it was echolocating. Jill didn't think twice, kicking out at it her foot catching the edge of it and popping it up out of the water. It shrieked and lashed out at her with six entirely to human like arms, Jill in turn let out a shriek as well holstering her gun and pulling out her combat knife. The thing sank below the waves again, but Jill didn't give it a chance to slip away. Grabbing its tail, she flipped it over in the water before stabbing it viscously.

Letting it go only after it stopped moving, Parker gave her a look of gratitude before pulling himself away from the handrail, and they moved on through the door. The next corridor split off in different directions with two doors to choose from, one sat at the top of a staircase the other one was on the same level as the two of them and Jill paused for a moment looking at Parker.

She didn't even bother to waste time debating, and chose to go right up the steps, and out of the water. Steam pipes seemed to be leaking everywhere she entered this room, and Parker took the moment to look at a control panel set to one side.

"It looks like this is where we reset the power," Parker said finally "But nothings working, I don't know why. Do you think you could get to that control panel over there?"

He said pointing to a panel on the other side, a gout of steam however was blocking the way and she took a good long hard look before deciding her next action. A note on the wall caught her attention, and she let out a sigh after reading it. Why couldn't people just leave keys where they would be useful?

"Alright, I'll have to find another way around." She said moving back towards the door, Parker gave her a nod and she moved back out through the door down into the water once again and towards the left hand door. It led to the area below the control panels, and she walked around the lower edge of it to get to a door on the other side, water dragging at her annoyingly. This door led to a ladder, and she didn't even hesitate to climb up, finding herself on a platform. A large golden gear like apparatus sat on the other side of the platform, and she gave it a once over before walking to the set of stairs next to it. A familiar sounding wail made her pause at the step just above the water line, and she took a moment to look at the water filled room.

There were no obvious signs of the water bug like creatures, but that didn't mean anything. Another wail confirmed her suspicions, and instead of walking down into the water she stomped once, hard on the step just beneath the water. This garnered an immediate response, as the creature reared out of the water with another shriek. Jill moved quickly, catching it and stabbing it much the same as she had the first. These monsters at least, did not require bullets to kill.

* * *

 _Bilge Control Room_

Jill emerged back into the control room with a tired sigh, why did every mission she had involving viral outbreaks have to be a giant puzzle? She didn't know, but what she did know was that putting a key in a cog shaped puzzle was stupid, and if anyone suggested it to her she would smack them before giving them a very stern lecture about the proper handling of keys in an emergency.

"I have the key." She said moving towards the second control panel, it would take the activation of both panels at the same time to get it working again. She inserted the key looking up at Parker. "Ready? On three."

"One." Parker said.

"Two."

"Three." The lights on the display for the bilge lit up one by one, and they shared a look of achievement.

"There, good as new." Parker barely finished saying before an emergency alarm sounded, both doors were suddenly covered with thick metal bars. But it was the next thing that really alarmed Jill. Water, a thick sudden torrent of water began to pour out of the overhead pipes- suddenly followed by a second and the pair shared a look of horror as the room began to fill with water.

"That's not good."

* * *

Endnotes: No spellcheck when I write Veltro I do not in fact mean Velcro. But thank you for trying. A little short, for which I do apologize but this chapter in the game is pretty short. As for Priss, and Raymond? They'll be back next chapter, Rachel however won't show up just yet. I am saving her for the right moment.


	7. Chapter Six: Cat And Mouse

A/N: I think I now know rather permanently how to spell Valkoinen Mokki- useful right?

Update: 2/7/2017

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Six: Cat And Mouse**

* * *

 _The Mountains Outside Valkoinen Mokki Airport_

Keith sighed heavily as the moved up the mountain pass towards the remains of the plane, Quint huffing and puffing behind him. This part of his job really blew, and of course that was often an understatement. But it was particularly true when you were say, hiking up a mountain with your partner and you were attacked by mutated wolves?

There was really no warning before the things attacked, a snarl from the rocks on the side of the path and suddenly a canine that was almost as big as he was leapt at them, all fang and claw. Keith didn't hesitate, pulling the trigger of his machine gun and catching it in the face. Quint shrieked with fright before dodging passed him with a- "I'll go and check out the crash while you clean up here!" And Keith looked behind them to find a much larger version of the same canine BOW he'd just killed.

It leapt at him and he dodged left putting his back to one of the boulders of the path he was on, releasing a hail of gunfire at the creature. It staggered back before slumping to the ground, and Keith walked passed it cautiously. Up over the hill that Quint fled too, and over a short drop on the other side. Quint at least seemed to be fine, and Keith let out a sigh looking at the man with annoyance.

"Man, you gotta wait up."

"Oh come one, I knew you could handle it Grinder." Quint said turning to walk up to the plane, "Let's find those terminals, the sooner we get the information the sooner we can leave."

"Agreed man." it took the a bit of time to actually find a terminal that hadn't been too badly damaged to use, but their persistence was rewarded as Quint began fiddling with a working terminal left in the wreckage near the nose of the plane.

"Hmm I can't find the call log." Quint said, typing furiously. "I'll have to try something else."

"No sweat, you're good with machines man. I'm sure you'll find it." Keith said pacing a bit to ease tension, a wicked thought occurring to him, "The ladies on the other hand…"

Neither man could shake the feeling they had of being watched as he worked, and Keith found himself scanning the snow banks around them. A stone clattered somewhere, and Keith brought his gun up ready.

"Grinder!" Quint said, nearly giving his partner a heart attack.

"Whats going on?"

"We need to contact HQ- asap!" Quint said, and Keith queued up his radio, thankfully O'brian had been on standby and they didn't have to wait too long before they garnered a response.

"This is Jackass, I got the coordinates for the ship. I'm sending them now."

"Good work. Thats music to my ears." Came O'brians gruff reply, Quint sent off the data before returning to the task at hand. Looking for anything else that might be of use to them.

"Nice one," Keith said, giving his partner a thumbs up.

"Well I could have calculated travel time, last known route, but that would have taken too long."

"That's why I said 'Nice one'."

"Dude, no you don't understand. I didn't do anything." He said pointing at the computer, "We aren't the only ones looking for the ship."

"Wait, what?" Keith said frowning, "You're saying Veltro, ran from their hide out, and is looking for their own ship?"

"That's what I'm saying, but I don't know if any of this info is real or not."

"So," Keith finished finally getting the point, "We have no idea who we're really up against do we?"

* * *

 _A Chopper over the Mediterranean 11:16 PM_

Chris ordered the chopper to the co-ordinated provided without hesitation, gripping his computer tightly before putting it away. He was close, so close, and as the chopper zipped across the water he felt anticipation building in his stomach replacing the worry. The stinging bite of fear he felt when O'brian told them that Jill and Parker had gone missing was still there, but much diluted by the hope he had that they would find them. Chris. Chris was not sure what he would do if something had happened to her, she was his partner- and for reasons it was hard to explain, it felt like she always had been.

A dark hulking mass appeared in the windows of the chopper, and he gave it a sweeping glance before moving to grab the gear needed to drop to the deck. The ship's size was impressive, but his mind filed that away as something to think about later. His priority was to find he comrades, and as the chopper came to hover of the deck, he hitched his rope to the hook Jessica beside him. They reached the deck with one quick drop, and unhitched themselves from the ropes with record speed. The chopper pulled away, and they were left to survey the deck from there position and proceed.

With a nod to his partner they made their way to the stairway leading away from the helipad.

"Where could they be?" Jessica muttered quietly.

"Anywhere." He answered with a sigh. "Let's get started."

"How are we planning to find them, the ship is huge." She asked, as the moved towards the first door they saw.

"No plan, just search every room till we find them."

"Great." She quipped back, sounding anything but enthusiastic. He pushed the door open to the ship's interior, blinking as he found a well furnish brightly lit room, rather than a derelict mess that he'd been anticipating. He gave the room a once over before moving on to the door in the back, he didn't have time to get picky about the details. He had to find his partner. It turned out to be an elevator, and Chris punched the button waiting impatiently for the doors to open.

"What if Veltor finds us before we can find them?" Jessica asked as she boarded the lift.

"We capture them, and interrogate 'em." He said, a few more tense moments and the lift doors opened to reveal a well tiled corridor shaped like an L. The door at the end led to what looked like the shopping district of some fancy city like Paris, or New York and he passed through it without to much thought. And that was when the first thing jumped out at them, a pale tall creature with bone like protrusions. Chris didn't hesitate, unleashing a hail of bullets at it. He would ask questions later- a later that would have to be much later as yet another creature lurched out of a vent at him, then another and a third that had some sort of bony protruding arm.

"Shit! We're going to have to blitz through them. There's too many." He said before dodging around one and up a set of stairs- Jessica hot on his trail. Over a walkway and through a sliding emergency door, over another walkway and around to a side door as the main thoroughfare was tightly shuttered. Up the staff corridor to another door stopping to open an ornate door with a handle like a ship's wheel. His radio beeped as someone hailed him, and Chris pressed the receive button.

"Jackass here, can I get a Sit-rep?"

"Hey there." Jessica answered as Chris pushed his way through the door. "Any idea where we can find Parker and Jill?"

"Je-Jessica?" Came the man's squeaky reply, "Um, yeah hold on. Judging by the ship's position, I believe there's a problem with the engines. I would wager their in the ship's bilge trying to get them going again."

"That makes sense," Chris said surveying the vast empty ballroom they'd stepped into. A large clock ticked cheerfully above a staircase "We'll head there now."

"Where are you now, I can give you directions."

"It looks like a giant ballroom." Chris said stopping in the center.

"Alright, from what I can see the schematics I've pulled up show me that the quickest route to the bilge will be through the Casino on the first floor."

"Alright then, I'll call if we need anything else." Chris said turning towards the doorway with the Casino sign. "Thanks for the heads up. Over and out."

The door opened to an opulent room lined with slot machines, it looked to be more than a bit torn up and the rattle and crash of a door to his right made Chris grip his gun tightly. He paced down a broken escalator.

"I'm pretty sure there's something in there." Jessica muttered giving the door a dirty look as it began to rattle more violently, and with one final shudder the door popped off its hinges, revealing two ugly grey mutated creatures. While they resembled some form of human/elephant like creature they were startlingly fast and the wielded one chainsaw like limb that Chris almost didn't dodge in time. Thankfully they lacked the intelligence to actually coordinate any sort of attack, so he and Jessica worked to herd them together and as he'd hoped one of the things got overzealous in wielding its limb, clipping the other and that sparked a blob on blob brawl that they chose to skip out on.

They could clean up later, getting to Jill and Parker took precedence and the duo darted into the doorway, the shine of a key catching Chris's attention he grabbed the item without questioning it, looking at it only briefly before moving towards a door in the back of the room with the same symbol on it. Jessica darted into the area after him, and he gladly closed the door quickly behind them. It wasn't really much of a room, only a six by six area with a ladder leading down and they quickly decided into the depths of the ship.

The room it led to was gore stained, with a shelf to one side and a door at the end of it that they moved towards rapidly.

"So," Jessica said as he pushed open the door, looking through before entering the next room. "Veltro want's to unleash this virus on the world."

"Right," He agreed before adding "But it has already infected this ship."

"So Jill and Parker had a welcome party waiting for them."

The next room was a dark crowded store room, prompting Chris to turn on his flashlight as he walked stepped into it. A human skull glinted in the light, shiny with some mucus like substance from its position on a shelf and if Chris had been a lesser man he would have jumped. He did do a quick backstep however, and that gave him a glimpse of the creature on the other side of the shelf. White and rounded it appeared to consist entirely of a flesh and liquid. Chris brought his gun up firing at it as he backed up, which turned out to be a very good idea- as the moment his bullets collided with the thing it stumbled and then promptly exploded.

The rush of foul smelling air, and the splatter of gore on the walls was all the warning Chris needed to conclude that these were things he should stay the fuck away from, and the pair moved on through the dark room to the next door. Winding their way around metal shelving, only to find that the next door was not in fact a door, but a ladder that they had to climb. Up he went into a service corridor, through this and down into an area that had heavy metal grating that wrapped around the room with a large lift in the center.

With a nod Chris and Jessica headed to the lift, pulling the lever that prompted it to drop down into the belly of the ship slowly but surely, they were making their way towards the missing duo. They had to be.

"I had no idea it would take so long to rescue these two, Parker is going to owe me a nice dinner for saving his ass."

The lift came to a stop, and there was yet more metal grating to stop off onto. There seemed to be only one door, and Chris tried the handle, glad to find it unlocked. The door opened to reveal a ladder, and he scaled down it finding himself in an L shaped corridor. Through the next door into the hallway beyond, up a short flight of stairs and into the room beyond. A computer with a detailed map of the ship was set into the wall, and Chris moved through this room to the next door. The trek from helipad to engine room seeming to last forever, but finally he found his way to the engine room flinging the door open with force.

To find nothing.

* * *

 _Bilge Passageway 11:45_

Jill clung to the heavy mesh of the wall as the water rose above the floor, swelling up into the room. The water was climbing at an alarming rate, and as the swell of water rushed to fill any empty spaces it fought to drag Jill with it. Parker was doing little better as he was shoved into a railing, and then pulled away from it in rapid succession. The larger man was faring badly, and as the water pushed them up further off their feet they had to fight to find things to hold onto. Slick metal made for a poor grip, and Jill finally decided enough was enough.

"This is not good," Parker said as they were pushed up into an air pocket on the ceiling.

"There has to be a way out of here." Jill said looking around, she gave Parker a look before finally saying what was on her mind. "We have to dive down."

"And what magically find somewhere that isn't flooded? Jill you realize there is a good chance we'll drown?"

"I know, but there isn't any other way. Raymond might be able to help, but neither of us has his radio signal, and Priss is completely out of the question- she can't swim like that."

"I guess you're right." He said sighing, "Who waits to die anyways.."

"I'll take a look real quick."Jill said taking a deep breath before diving beneath the surface, eye's opening in the briny water, it stung but a few blinks negated the worst of it as she dove down into the first floor of the engine room. A grate in the ceiling caught her eye, and she moved to look at it. The grate itself looked to be moveable, and she pushed on it for a moment before concluding that she needed help to get the thing to budge. Turning she swam back up into the air pocket. "I might have found something."

"Really?"

"Yeah, there is a grate on the ceiling that's in the water. It can be moved but I can't do it alone." Parker nodded in understanding, before commenting.

"Alright, lead the way."

They dove down into the water, Jill leading Parker to the grate and with a great deal of effort they managed to pull the grate away from the area it was covering. Back peddling as it sank rapidly into the depths of the engine room, Jill kicked hard up into the space left open and into the air pocket above. It was the entrance to an access tunnel, and the brunette woman smiled tiredly as she pulled herself up, injured arm aching as she crawled onto the floor of the tunnel. Parker soon joined her, struggling to get his larger frame out of the water, and Jill pulled him up out of the water with an exhausted huff.

"No problems, eh Jill?" He asked with a wry smile.

"A little close for comfort." She said letting out a sigh, after a good few minutes to recover Jill moved down the corridor. It thankfully led to a drop that was above a familiar stretch of ship, and she dropped down cautiously surveying the area. Parker soon joining her with a grunt at the hip high water. "The ship is still filling with water."

"With the engine back up and running, we should be able to stop it from getting too much worse."

* * *

 _The Grand Ballroom_

I jolted awake disoriented and alarmed by the blaring of sirens, a soft material was pressed against my cheek and I sat up to discover that I was alone. A cold thrill of fear ran through me as I looked around for a familiar red head and came up empty. Where was he? Raymond was gone, and for a moment I was afraid that I'd been dreaming the entire time- dreaming about him coming back and being whole if not happy. Was I delirious? Had I dreamed up Parker and Jill as well? My breath hitched as something pulled tight in my chest, and I fought to control my breathing as I curled into a ball.

I was going to die, I was going to die alone on this ship and no one would ever find me. Or so the thought seemed to echo over, and over again in my head gaining strength as I clutched my knees with my good hand, burying my face for a moment. I needed to calm down, deep breaths, come on I told myself- in and out, I could do this. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself in any mess, and I would make it through this. It wasn't a cure all, but repeating it helped me ease my mind away from the full blown panic attack that had been building since I'd seen my partner die. It was about that time that I began to realize that the soft material my head had been on was a familiar blue vest, and that nearly brought me to tears- this time of relief.

I wasn't hallucinating then, a real possibility for people under stress, left on their own for too long. But where had he gone then, and why had he left? I was in a terrible place to defend myself, awake or asleep. Maybe he hadn't had a choice- but in any case I had to do something, I couldn't stay here. But where would I go? I didn't know where Raymond was, so then maybe I could catch up with Parker and Jill. It was worth a try at least- The alarms had stopped at this point, but that didn't make me worry any less and I questioned what or who had triggered them.

Pushing myself to my feet, I grabbed Raymond's vest and draped it around my shoulders zipping it up. The vest was way too large for me, and I could have worn it as a short unfashionable dress, but it was comforting and I moved towards the casino door pulling on the handle- It was time to play catch up.

* * *

 _Engine Room_

The hum and whirr of the engines coming online was a welcome noise to Jill's ears as she looked over the outline of the ship on the monitor, queuing the bulkhead to close with a sigh of relief.

"Well, that should hold it." Parker said and Jill nodded before punching up the communications systems.

"It had better." She said activating power to the comm systems piece by piece. Parker ever the optimist pulled out his cell phone, holding it in the air. The look Jill gave him was much like one a mother would give a child acting silly.

"What? It was worth a try." He said simply, he then tried his actual radio and grimaced. "No signal, maybe the antenna array is out."

"It's on the observation deck," She said after checking the map. "Maybe we can fix it. I'm sure the view is nice." Jill said with a wink and a smile, causing Parker to snort and smile back. She would just be glad to get out of this dank hole, this place was getting to be a bit too much like the Spencer mansion again- she needed fresh air.

* * *

End notes: And for the night that is all she wrote, literally I think this is a good stopping point.


	8. Chapter Seven: Regia Solas

A/N: I need more Revelations goodness to read, Raymond and Parker are underutilized awesomeness. Important question at the end that I hope people will answer.

Updated: 02/10/17

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Seven: Regia Solis**

* * *

 _"I wake up alone. Draw a bath of war paint. I want an accident, an instant."_

 _—_

Emily O'Neill, from "Before the Elegy"

 _Casino_

The casino when I entered it was empty, but for some reason I felt an underlying tension in the air as I walked down the escalator, marveling at how bright the room was now that the power was back on. The fountain was now gushing water- or what might once have been water, despite being almost blood red. There were some rather large fish carcusses lying around but besides that, there weren't any major changes to the room since my first trip through. It wasn't until I hit the high roller room that I remembered my little problem- even if my arm was capable of gripping now, I wouldn't be able to put any of my weight on it. So I chose to sit and wait for Jill and Parker instead of trying to climb down and up the various ladders in between.

Thankfully I didn't have to wait very long before I heard them rattling up the ladder, and I stood to meet them- much to their surprise.

"Priss?" Jill said as she pulled herself off the ladder, Parker just a few seconds behind her. "What are you doing here, I thought you were going to stay with Raymond?"

"I was going to." I answered "I fell asleep for a little bit, and when I woke up he was gone."

"That's oddly uncharacteristic." Parker commented crossing his arms. "I can't imagine he would leave someone defenceless, unless he had no other choice."

"Either way I suppose you'll have to come with us." Jill said, moving towards the door to the casino. "I can't imagine leaving anyone on their own here."

"So how'd it go?" I said noticing that they were wet from head to toe despite their otherwise normal demeanor.

"The ship is leaking." Jill said in a tone that made me think there was much more to it, and I looked at Parker questioningly.

"No trouble, just had to get the bulkhead lowered. That was… Fun." Parker said, and he suddenly seemed to develop a subtle twitch under his eye. "We got the engine up and running though, so we should be out of hot water for the time being."

"I see." I said, they weren't mentioning something- what I wasn't sure about, but I decided perhaps this was something I should ask them about later. We walked up the escalator out of the casino into the grand ballroom, and to my surprise towards one of the elevators that hadn't been working before. Probably because there wasn't any power- go figure. It was a wonder anything on this ship worked anymore, I was totally filing a report on the poor state of its repair as soon as I got back, er pending the ship wasn't confiscated by the BSAA for being a Biohazard that is. The elevator when it reached us proved to be one of those fancy glass and gilt work elevators after the style of the early 1900's.

We boarded the elevator and I admired the checkerboard pattern marble on the floor as Jill pushed the appropriate button.

"Where are we headed exactly?"

"The observation deck," Parker said leaning against one wall, "We managed to get the communications equipment working, but we have to be closer to the antenna to use it."

"Ah," I said irony hitting me. "Oh what an age to live in, every chasing the god we call 'Reception'."

"Che, I know right? Just our luck to be stuck in the one place on earth with no cell recep-" Something hit the top of the elevator with enough force to shatter the glass, interrupting Parker and knocking me into the man. We both staggered- Jill at least managed to stay standing with no problem, and Parker helped me stand upright again as we looked around.

"What the hell-" Came out of Jill's mouth before I found myself pushed against the doors of the elevator by Parker as a large chitinous claw like protrusions gripped the edge of the elevators ceiling. One plate sized eye looked down at us from above,

"What the hell is that?" Parker said, pulling his gun and I pulled mine out as well.

"Very angry fiddler crab?" I said skeptically. A large shell like pod dropped over the edge of the elevator, and we opened fire on it as whatever it was swung around presenting a large array of spikes at us. I didn't hesitate to drag Parker down with me as we the thing swung at us, Jill dodged but our position against the back of the elevator made it more difficult. Down was the only way to avoid a hit- but that also meant that it made the elevator rock dangerously. We weren't that far up, but it was still far enough that I would worry about it cause serious injury. Parker pulled himself up and began firing again- forsaking his handgun for his secondary weapon.

JIll's handgun clicked empty and she joined him, I pushed myself up pulling the trigger on my own gun until it too clicked empty, my weak arm shaking with the effort. The thing saw fit to rock the elevator once more swinging at us, and I dropped to the floor trying to keep skin away from the shards of glass littering its once pristine floor- Parker ducked down, and Jill dodged to the side. The thing screamed at us, and with another thunderous rock the weight on top of the elevator seemed to disappear, with the click, click of claw sounds on metal. Parker was the first to stand, helping me to my feet and suddenly the elevator began to rise again.

"How did that not break the motor?" I muttered as I brushing myself off.

"I have not idea- luck I guess. Do you think it's gone?" Jill asked.

"I certainly hope so." Parker answered.

The elevator took its time reaching the next level, giving off one final sick sounding ping as the doors attempted to slide open. Parker encouraged it a little muscle however, as the doors themselves were badly damaged, and I think we were all very happy to be out of the metal death box by the end of it. Jill at managed to get out of the fight without any additional injuries, but Parker had to rebandage her arm. Parker had small cuts on the side of his face from the shattered glass, the largest of which slid across his cheek only grazing the skin but he would have a wicked scar- as he'd been standing against the glass wall at the time we were very lucky it hadn't been worse, and I helped him clean it out.

"Well, at least we finally made it here." Parker said, looking out of the vast windows that stood before us. The room itself lived up to its name- it was truly an observation deck with a hundred and eighty degree view of the ocean around us. There were small stands proclaiming that the sold food, candy and balloons, but I ignored them noting that we were on the far left side of the room. There was a niche that I could see from here on the other side of the room, and I had to wonder if that housed another elevator.

"And its night out, so there's nothing to see." Parker finished with a grumble.

I snorted at this, witty reply on the tip of my tongue. But found myself staggering as something hit the floor with enough weight and force that it felt like an earthquake.

"What the shit!"

"IS this the same thing from before?" Parker said lifting his gun at the- the well it looked like angry barnacle mated with a crab to be honest, and this was franken-offspring. The thing lashed out with a shield like arm, knocking over one of the flimsy wooden stands that stood on the deck- it cliped a can of what looked to be gas for stove that was part of the stand, causing it to burst in a fiery explosion as we all dodge away from its wild flailing. It was still on fire as it rounding and moved seemingly at random it decided to chase after me, and I booked it to the other side of the room, dodging around the flimsy stands that were no different from the one it had made short work of earlier.

That at least gave me an idea, there wasn't much cover to be had but I did manage to make it to the niche on the other side. I could hear Parker and Jill firing at the thing, and I chanced a look around the corner to find it suddenly charging towards my hiding place. I didn't even think about what I was doing as I moved out from behind the wall, knocking a red canister into its path before ducking back. It hit the canister with a resounding crash, and for a moment I doubted my plan until the crustacean like monster hit the viewing window crushing the canister and shattering the window in one fell swoop. It staggered back flames dancing along it, only for it to meet a hail of gunfire from Jill and Parker. Flailing about wildly as if trying to block the bullets, it attempted to do something- what I wasn't sure but in the end only managed to knock itself over tipping out the window, only to crash onto the metal deck below.

That is the deck that was like 60 feet below, and we cautiously approached the window, stepping over shards of shattered glass- chancing a look for the sake of knowing if it was finally over.

"Oh, I am not going to be able to eat seafood for awhile." I said as the horrid smell hit me, and I turned away from the smoldering mess taking a few steps back toward the center of the room.

"Me either." Parker said looking a bit green, and I gave him a small pat on the shoulder as Jill stepped away.

"Well, at least it's over." She said ever the optimist.

"What a pain in the ass piece of shit." Was Parker's reply. "What a night, after this I'm taking a vacation."

"I recommend you skip right over the idea of a cruise." I said and both agents gave me a dirty look, "I'm just saying…"

After a bit more looking, I noticed a large ladder that stood in the middle of the room- and I actually had to look twice at the damn thing because I was sure that wasn't there when the… Whatever it was, was chasing me.

"The fuck?" I said pointing.

"It fell when that thing hit the window." Jill answered with a shrug. "My best guess is that it knocked it loose."

"Ladders man, way is it always ladders?" I murmured rubbing my face with my hand, could I manage another ladder- I didn't know.

"The antenna is up above," Jill commented looking at the ladder, and then looking at me. "Do you think you're up to it?"

I shook my head and jerked a thumb at a padded seat set against the wall.

"I'll wait here if it's all the same to you guys."

"Alright, if you have any problems just shout." Parker said, as Jill mounted the ladder. I only sat and watched them go, wearily looking out at the blustery night sky.

* * *

There was a small room above the observation deck, packed with miscellaneous items that seemed to indicate that it had been used at one point more as storage than anything else. The duo moved to the other side of the room quickly, towards the lone door- but Jill stopped short as she spotted something resting among the dusty crates that was too clean to belong. A journal, one that upon being picked up proved to be a log of a Veltro member's movements, the pages we water damaged and stiff, but it gave Jill enough information that she moved to put it in her pouch for inspection later.

But beneath the journal was the real gem, a keycard- Jill used it on the card reader near the door, feeling relief as it beeped in acknowledgement, and she pushed the door open with a sigh walking into the cool night air.

"Ah," Parker said stepping out behind her. "It's good to take in the fresh night air again."

"We got a lot more than we bargained for on this ship."

"You can say that again, we've been fighting for our lives this whole time."

They walked along the deck in a companionable silence, turning around a corner to find a stairway leading up and then yet another ladder. The deck at the top yielded them the antenna they were looking for, and more importantly- the garbled wiring that was keeping any signal they might have sent from going out, after some fiddling and rewiring power was properly restored.

"Well, that should do it. I guess we'll have to give it a shot." Jill pressed the send button on her radio, "This is Vermillion. Headquarters, do you read?"

A silence stretched out as both agents waited for some form of response, any response.

"O'brian here, are you two alright?" Tension seeped out of Jill in a way the left her feeling almost limp with relief and she propped herself up on the railing.

"Boss, it's Parker." He said taking over for a moment as she gave herself a moment to breath. "Shit hit the fan here, and it hit pretty hard."

"I know, this whole thing was a setup, and we fell for it." Came O'brian's response, and she shared a skeptical look with Parker before asking.

"How do you know?" There was no response, and their suspicion deepened.

"How do you know it's a setup boss?" Parker said this time with a bit more force, and yet again silence. "What is it, boss!? Say something?"

"Just stay put, I've got on emergency call." Came across their radios, and neither agent was pleased with the response. Jill pushed herself up, pacing as they waited.

"Parker!" broke the silence and the man in question reached for his radio.

"HQ, what's going on?"

"All hell's about to break loose. The solar energy matrix has been reactivated." Came O'brian's frantic voice. "Their aiming at the Veltro hideouts on the mediterranean disguised as cruise ships."

"The same satellites that destroyed Terragrigia-" Parker said looking at Jill.

"Are right above us." Jill finished for him. "The can't just ignore the ultimatum and destroy the ship!"

"Boss, get us out of here!" Parker said, his voice gruff with nerves.

"Sorry," Came a grief stricken voice from the other side. "But I can't authorize that."

The duo looked at each other, not even question what he meant by that. O'brian's hands were tied, he literally could not remove the from the ship- probably because of the red tape involved, and that meant that they would very likely be dead unless they found their own route.

"Sir," Jill said, determined to get some sort of answer from the man. "What is going on?"

"You're out of time, a rescue just isn't possible." O'brian answered "Chris is traveling by sea, but he won't reach you in time."

"Chris?" Jill said, stamping down on the relief and butterfly like feelings in her stomach. "He's alright?"

"No time to explain. I'll do what I can to stop the attack. O'brian out."

And like that their only source of direction was gone, logically the knew they had to do something, but Parker and Jill both were at a loss.

"Shit, I think this is the worst day of my life." Parker muttered turning to Jill. "We should… Talk to Priss about this. I can't imagine she'll take it easy, but it's better to know."

The duo scaled down the ladder and were halfway to the door when they received another hail from their radios. Jill pressed the receiver, before opening the door to the storage room.

"Jackass here. The chief has filled me in- there's only one thing you can do, confuse the satellites targeting system."

"How the hell do we do that?" Parker questioned.

"Gimme a moment, I know everything about that ship. I should be able to figure something out soon." The moved towards the ladder, dropping down. Priss was seated as she had been, and she gave them a skeptical look as the approached.

"I imagined you would be smiling after contacting HQ, but you both look like you've just been to a funeral."

"Well we might as well have," Jill said before amending "We got in contact with HQ, but it doesn't look good. The FBC has activated the solar array used to destroy Terragrigia."

"So that's it then. We're just being written off as collateral?" Priss said, voice bitter as she stood. "You know, it's funny because here I was not minding that I might die on this tip as long as it helped other people. But being written off, like our lives have no meaning- no value? I am really not liking the FBC right now. I hope my boss drowns them in paperwork in my honor."

"Our tech specialist is looking into a way to redirect the satellite." Jill said with a shrug, "I'm sure we'll find someway to fix this."

"Here's hoping at least." Priss said, pushing herself up. "Should we try and find Raymond? I mean he's FBC right, maybe that will sway them to delaying the strike?"

"Good idea," Parker commented, "Although I don't know how much good it would do. Either way, being together would probably be best."

The group moved towards the second elevator, choosing to take the least damaged one as it was more likely to get them to the floor that they needed at a pace that wouldn't turn them to paste. But shortly before the elevator managed to reach the bottom floor it jerked to a halt mid way between levels.

"Damnit! Doesn't anything on this ship work right?" Parker commented, as the doors opened revealing the floor to be about waist height out on the other side.

"That would be to easy." Priss said, giving it the stink eye. "Does anyone else have the bad horror movie vibe, no? Just me."

"Here, I'll go first. Then you can Parker can try it." Jill said moving towards the door, before adding with a bit of humor- "Besides, this is kind of an awkward angle for you to be crawling out of- being as short as you are."

"Ha, ha Jill." the red head quipped back sticking her tongue out.

"I didn't realize I was going to be working with kindergartners." Parker commented as the brunette crawled out of the elevator.

"Think of it this way-" Jill said pulling herself to her feet on the other side of the door. "At least you can add this as a skill on your resume. Okay Priss your turn."

It did take some extra effort to get the redhead out of the elevator, but Parker gave her a boost as Jill gripped her good arm and she made it through just fine. In turn she helped pull Parker to his feet after he got out, and they moved towards the stairs with some relief. It was always nice to have your feet on- well not solid ground, but something close to it at least. Jill's radio beep again, and she pressed the receiver.

"This is Jill."

"Jackass here, I have an idea. You're gonna use the UAV."

"The UAV? There's a drone on this ship?"

"Yup, Veltro used it to carry out attacks last year. It should be in a container on the foredeck." He said, before elaborating "The UAV can discharge chaff that'll throw off the satellite's targeting system."

"Okay, then the foredeck is where we're going." Parker said and they began to move.

"You guys better move fast, Quint out."

"Priss, do you know the way." Parker asked, adjusting his gear for a run.

"Yeah, down and through the promenade, to the elevator and that should take-"

"Good enough, lead the way."

"Right." She said moving around the walkway and towards the stairwell, and down she went towards the dining hall, coming to a stop as she heard a familiar voice.

"Yes.. I see. I'll do what I can to stop the Regia-. I have to go." Came from the previously MIA red haired man, he'd dropped his hand away from his receiver as they came closer.

"Raymond?" Priss said giving him a dirty look.

"Look you don't have time," He said looking at the woman, frown fixed in place. "You need to head to the Foredeck. I'll see if I can buy us some time with the FBC."

"Okay fine, but when we get out of this- we are going to have a talk." Priss said moving past him, through the door to the Promenade. The double doors close behind them, and for a moment no one said anything.

"How did he know what we are trying to do?" Jill said, asking the question that was echoed in the minds of her friends. Down the passageway through the next door, around the walkway and down the stairs, through the door and to the end of the promenade- to a set of double doors that had been ignore in favor of more important things. But a familiar hissing screech made the group pause, and from the second walkway hunters leapt attacking the ill prepared group. Two of the scaly bastards attacked and Priss dodged, putting a wooden table between her and the things.

"WHY IS IT ALWAYS HUNTERS?" She said, kicking a chair out to trip a hunter as Jill peppered it with her shotgun. Parker jumped over the planter, putting a few shots in the other.

"You have the gift Priss- snake monsters love redheads!" He said with a laugh. "Christ, it's like my worst enemies come back to haunt me."

"Can I give it back?" She queried as the one attacking Jill collapsed with a shriek; the one attacking Parker joining it not to long after. They started moving again, unlocking the double doors at the end of the promenade and entering the L shaped corridor to a lift at the end. The lift took them up to a lounge area, and with the assistance of the keycard Jill found they were soon out on the deck heading towards the lone loading crate placed there. Sprinting they moved to the crate, and Jill immediately went for the doors, opening them with a groan of tired hinges. But this noise was answered but a less desired but familiar screech, and once more the group was fighting.

Priss was shoved against the crate by Parker as he held off two hunters with his shotgun, and Jill dodged to and fro distracting three others. The redhead grabbed the handgun out of Parker's holster, taking careful aim as the things dodged his shots.

"Not to put any pressure on you Priss, but pulling the trigger would make you much more helpful." He said striking one of the hunters on the head with the butt of his shotgun.

"I can't help it if my timing sucks! I'm trying not to waste bullets." She said finally pulling the trigger on one of the hunters, hitting it in the face. The next one took a shotgun blast to the face as it tried to dodge Priss' fire and, they turned to help out Jill with her followers. Another few precious minutes seemed to drag on like hours as they killed the hunters, but they all breathed a sigh of relief when the last one went down.

"Finally, some peace and quiet." Parker said as they moved back towards the UAV, Priss handing him his gun as he passed her. The UAV itself was in several parts, and the trio scrambled to put it together. Everything seemed to be taking so much _time,_ a precious something that they didn't have to spare as they propped it on the deck ready to launch.

"We need this launched as far as possible." Jill commented as she typed in some final details.

"All set to go?" Parker asked, and the brunette gave him a thumbs up. "Well, better late than never."

"Quint," Jill said, hailing the man on her radio. "We're good to go."

"Ok," Came back his response, "The remote pilot controls are in the ship's hold."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Came out of the redhead's mouth as she turned and sped off towards the ship's interior, and the other two moved to chase the woman as she headed for a side door.

"That why it's called remote; you can-"

"Go through the side deck I know!" She snapped back- not that the man could hear her all that well. Pushing open a door on the far side she revealed a side deck that seemed to span the length of the ship, and the three booked it down passageway.

"I've calculated how much time you have. Sending it now." Came Quints voice of the radio, and Jill checked her device.

"Shit! We have less than five minutes!" Their pace sped up.

"Are we going to make it?" Parker shouted, and a screech alerted them to yet more problems. Parker dodged under the initial swipe, kicking it hard enough to knock it over the railing. "Keep going! We don't have time to play with monsters!"

The next few minutes were filled with frantic dodging and cursing as they pushed and fought there way to the door, Priss faltered dropping to the deck as she tripped over something and almost didn't make it back up. But Jill dragged her up again, and they ducked into the door Parker slamming it shut behind them. This hallway led to another lift, and they went down as Jill looked at her watch.

"We're almost out of time." She said as the elevator doors slid open, and the trio ran out, coming out onto a catwalk above the cargo bay itself, it was shaped like a blocky eight, "Where do we need to go Priss?"

"I don't know, I've never been down here." She said, looking around spotting something she pointed. "There, I think."

The door in question that she pointed towards was on the floor below, and it wasn't alone. A large grey skinned creature sat at the stairway next to it, and various other BOW's lined the catwalk above. Priss moved to drop down onto some large crates, and gestured for them to follow, pulling a grenade from her pack.

"Last one," She said "I'll draw him off, you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up to you."

Pulling the pin with her mouth she lopped it at the thing as hard as she could, the explosion went off at its feet making it stupid, but also enraging it.

"GO!" She said finally before jumping down, moving away from the creature yelling taunts- and the thing knowing no better followed. Both BSAA agents hesitated but jumped down towards the door in question, sparing looks over there shoulders as they shoved through the door. Another corridor, and they raced for the end and the door just beyond. This door opened to a computer room, and Jill sighed in relief as she slapped the button on her radio.

"Come on, come on!" She said typing in the appropriate commands, the computer acknowledged the launching of the device and they waited with baited breath, watching its progress on the computer screen. The UAV released the decoy trail, and for a brief moment nothing happened. But the sound of a distant explosion, the warning issued by the computer told them that the UAV had been successful, if destroyed in the process.

"It worked?" Parker said, running a hand down his face. "I feel like I've aged ten years in the past five minutes."

"You and me both, we should go help Priss." She said, turning away from the computer. Only to stagger as the ship began to sway and buck wildly; the UAV had been able to distract the satellite from hitting its initial target, but the suddenly heating of the water caused by the satellites reflected rays made the sea unstable. A massive wave hit the ship, and for a moment everything went dark.

* * *

Ending Notes: Okay, because I wanted a general consensus- what does everybody have to say about the possibility of additional romantic content happening between Priss and one of the men in this fic? I have been kind of dancing around it, but resisting temptation because I am already putting in some ChrisXJill. Either was Y/N and whom if there is a preference. I mean, there still won't be a lot of romance- because let's face it they are literally on a sinking ship in the middle of the ocean trying not to die. But the idea is that a sequel may or may not happen.


	9. Chapter Eight: All On the Line

A/N: Thank you to all of my readers, and to my reviews especially- Bloodwitch Raven, Jkit45 and Guest. As a side note, I've received reviews- but I can't respond to them for some reason, the site is being weird.

 **Updated:02/10/17**

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Eight: All On the Line**

* * *

 _The woods are lovely, dark and deep,_

 _But I have promises to keep,_

 _And miles to go before I sleep,_

 _And miles to go before I sleep_

 _Robert Frost- Stopping By Woods on A snowy Evening_

 _Queen Zenobia, Cargo Hold_

"Ouch." Was the first word out of my mouth as I sat up, shaking my head against the nasty knock it took. The hold was completely dark, and I had no idea what was going on- there was only the distant sound of dripping, and the vague recollection of the ground swaying dangerously underneath me before the lights cut out. My leg felt like something was holding it down, warning sirens began to blare, and red emergency lights flickered on. I was rewarded with the sight of what exactly was holding it down- sometimes I have to wonder where I got my luck from, because I had been very lucky, another foot to the right and it would be the hard cold steel of one of the various shipping containers, but some odd twist of fate meant that the shipping container landed on the BOW instead of my leg. That was what was holding my leg down, the body of the BOW.

"Ugh, at least he's dead I guess." I muttered to myself as I tried to pull my leg out, there was pressure on my leg, but it wasn't the crushing pressure and with time I could get it out. I could tell, it would just take some doing. I put my hand down on the floor to gain more leverage, and it came in contact with the cold slick metal of the floor. This made me pause- wet? I reached up to turn my flashlight on, and I my throat went dry.

"Oh shit." I said looking at the walls of the cargo hold, the dripping I'd been hearing- the cold wet floor. The walls of the cargo hold were leaking and badly, I needed to get out of here _now_. I levered my free leg up against the BOW carcass, pushing on it with all my strength. "Come on crazy thunder thighs! You have to be good for something other than crushing man's head like sparrows egg!"

The sound of metal giving way under pressure was the last thing I wanted to hear at the moment, but the universe was always generous with those sorts of things.

* * *

 _UAV Control Room_

The ship bucked underneath them, making Jill stumble and falter into Parker who caught her and together they managed to stay standing even as the contents of the room slid. The lights flicker and went out, only to be replaced by the red glow of emergency lighting.

"Parker!"

"Yeah, time to clear out." He answered as they moved towards the door, the ship bucked and swayed again- this time less drastically, and the sound of something hitting the door with a resounding crash filled the room.

"What the-" Parker said as the door began to groan, water began to seep through the door. "Oh come on!"

The door burst off its hinges and water began to rush in overtaking the BSAA agents before they could blink, and filling the room with cold briny water. Jill was tossed back into the wall, and for a moment she fought to right herself in the tumultuous water currents. The brunette caught ahold of her partner, dragging him upright in the water- the man opened his eyes and Jill pointed towards the door. The shared a nod before swimming as fast as they could, out the door and down the corridor. A small air pocket was caught at the apex of the corridor, and the duo managed to catch their breath before moving out through and down again, out into the cargo hold.

The cargo hold was filled with water, but the upper half had yet to fill with water and the two breached the surface to look around.

"Hey guys- Over here!" Said a familiar voice and they turned to see Priss standing on the walkway to their left. "There's a ladder on the other side of the shipping containers, but you have to move- the hold is filling fast!"

The red headed woman ran towards the other side of the cargo hold, and both agents dove down underneath the large but buoyant shipping containers. Around the body of the grey BOW and up towards the ladder, Jill scaled the thing with vengeance and the two woman gave the larger man an extra hand up before stumbling a bit as the ship swayed again.

"Where do we go," Parker asked as they looked around, "Will the elevator even be working?"

"I don't know," Jill answered, "But we have to move fast, we don't have much time!"

Jill punched the button for the elevator, but received no response.

"Shit!"

"There were other doors in the hold, I saw them when I was down there-" Priss said, moving along towards the other side of the hold- Shirking her sling to the side the woman jumped into the water, and with a bit of astonishment Jill and Parker followed. One door was locked, and the group had to surface to locate the other before trying it as well. It unlatched with a pull, dragging the redhead into the hallway beyond whirling her around in the water with a nauseous twist. But with a kick she righted herself, swimming on as down the corridor, stopping at the small air bubbles trapped by the ceiling to catch their breath they move down this corridor to the closed door at the end, opening it to reveal a submerged stairwell.

Up and up the swam surfacing for a moment in the air pocket left at the top of this stairwell, a very familiar stairwell, with a broken stairway.

"Do we go down again, or do we try to reach the stairs?" Parker asked, and Priss grabbed hold of a pipe that was lining the wall to anchor herself in place instead of struggling to tread water as she had been doing.

"I don't know if we can." Priss said, with a ragged breath.

"What do you mean?" Parker asked grabbing hold of another set of pipes, Jill joining him.

"Not that I'm an expert but this stairwell is designed to pressurize in case of an emergency- if we open the doors above we would depressurize the stairwell, this could lead to it flooding completely and if that happens we might as well sink the ship ourselves."

"Then what, we go down again?"

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice-" Jill started before being cut off by the noise of her radio beeping.

"This is Chris. Vermillion! Parker, Jill! You have to listen- the ship is done for, but we can't allow the virus to contaminate the oceans, Jessica and I are heading for the Queen Zenobia. Just hang in there."

"Well, that's grand, but how the hell are we going to get out of here?" Parker said, and the three of the exchanged looks.

"This stairwell leads down into the engine room," Priss commented. "If we dive down we can try to go through there, but I don't know if we can make it through unless we find air pockets."

"We'll have to try- we don't have much of a choice." Jill said and with a breath they dove down, into the depths of the ship once more following the beam of their flashlights. Into another lengthy corridor, and to an air pocket only large enough to press their faces against for a brief moment before swimming on. Up a set of steps and down another too a large room that Jill found familiar, and she swam ahead as she realized where she was at. The brief echo of something in the water caught Jill's attention, and she swam harder Parker joining her in their efforts.

A grate toward the ceiling was open, and the trio to the chance to catch their breath and look around.

"Did you hear that Parker?"

"Yeah, it's those fucking things again isn't it?" The man asked his partner, and Priss only looked between the two with confusion.

"What things?" The redhead asked.

"Some bug things, watch yourself- they're pretty bad." Jill said, shaking her head.

"How much further do you think we have to go?" Priss asked.

"Not much, we should be able to get out in the next room." Jill answered, and the trio prepared themselves for another dive.

"Think of it this way," Parker said giving the women a grin. "At least we're getting our exercise."

This garnered a grin from Priss, and an eyeroll from his partner before the trio dove below the surface again, Jill taking lead as they moved towards the door. Shoving it open in spite of the water resistance, into the engine room Parker on her heels. Priss took up the rear as the trio swam up towards the opening, weak arm slowing her down. The long moaning sound repeated itself, and Jill broke the surface of the great hauling herself out of the water, Parker moved to follow her but quickly backpedaled as something swam out of the darkness of the engine room in front of him.

The slick tear dropped shaped BOW lashed at him with its arms, but missed and let out a frustrated shriek- that was the only motivation Parker needed to haul his ass out of the water at record speed Priss surfacing just after him. Jill and Parker reached to pull up the small woman, grabbing her shoulders, jolting as something tugged back.

"It has my leg, oh jeezus why do they have HANDS?" the woman shouted, gripping the duo back. Parker set his feet and yanked with all his strength, and the red head kicked out catching the bug in the face. It shrieked but refused to let go, and Parker grabbed the material of her wet suit to get a better grip. With a mighty pop her leg slipped out of the bug creatures grip, spilling the group on the ground of the vent.

"You alright?" Parker said after a moment breathing heavily.

"My shoulder is killing me, and I have the worst fucking wedgy. But I'll live." She said, pushing herself up off the ground. Her good hand going to her bad shoulder, "Ugh, I don't think I'll be able to do any weightlifting competitions for a good long time."

"I thought your shoulder was dislocated." Jill said pushed herself up into a seated position.

"It was, lucky for me Raymond was an EMT before he joined the FBC- he put it back in place."

"Why the sling then?" Jill asked, and the trio jumped as the water bound BOW clawed at the edge of the vent.

"Putting an arm back in its socket isn't exactly like popping a doll's arm back on." She said edging away from the vent opening, and for the first time Jill noticed that she was missing a boot. The thing clawed at the edge of the vent again and without missing a beat Priss unzipped her remaining boot, tossing it at the creature. "Eat me, you fucking overgrown water-bug."

"I think that's the idea." Parker said standing. "Do I want to know what happen to your other boot."

"My foot got trapped under one of those giant shipping containers," She said with a shrug "Generally when you're drowning, the last thing you have on your mind is the price of your footwear."

"I can honestly say that thought never occurred to me." Parker answered helping Jill to her feet. "Are we ready?"

"Never, but for you I'll make an exception." Priss said with a sarcastic smile, and Jill smacked her on the hip.

"Stop flirting with my partner. Don't you have a thing with for Red anyways?"

"I dunno, after all that bullshit. I am feeling awfully lucky." The redhead quipped back, obviously joking. The trio moved down the vent towards the next portion of watery death.

"Once more into the breach." Parker said, dropping down into the water.

* * *

 _Blige Lift Room_

Jill, pulled herself out of the water, followed soon by Priss and Parker- with any hope one final time up onto the lined grating of the walkway around the bilge lift room, and for a moment the trio simply sat panting, dripping and exhausted.

"If anyone ever suggests I take a nice cruise to relax," Priss said voice exhausted, "I am going to l will laugh, and laugh, and maybe I will stop laughing before people start inching away, muttering about men in white coats."

"I'm with you on that one. Don't think I'll be able to look at a boat without flinching." Parker amended, Jill and Parker's radios beeped in tandem, and the pair shared a look. "Not it."

Jill pushed the receiver on her radio.

"This is Chris, are you two alright?"

"Chris!" Jill said, voice relieved and happy. More relief than one would usually hear from someone who was suppose to be only a partner. "Yes, we're fine. But the ship is sinking fast."

"We're approaching the Queen Zenobia now. Rendezvous at the ship's hall."

"Roger, we'll be waiting."

"See you soon. Chris out."

The three of them stood, moving towards the vent. Up they went, and then down again into the now flooded ventilation system, this swim at least was brief and the made it to the other side without problems. Up one ladder, and then the next into the casino.

"Ladders, why does this place have so many ladders?" Priss asked rhetorically leaning on the table as she walked, Jill pushed open the door to the casino and the three of them filed down the stairs, stopping at the sound of something.

"Hear that?" Jill said, and both of her companions nodded. "There."

She said pointing to the balcony set above the casino floor-and on it stood a man dressed in black decked out with a gas mask to conveniently cover his features. He was clapping- which was the noise that drew their attention, and he only ceased as he put his hands on the railing in front of him in a rather dramatic fashion.

"Veltro," Parker said, "You almost missed the party."

* * *

 _A Little Earlier- The Mediterranean_

"We're approaching the Queen Zenobia now. Rendezvous at the ship's hall." Chris said over his radio as he gripped the railing of the hovercraft they were on, they might not have actually been flying a the craft's name suggested. But the speed at which they moved over the water was impressive.

"Roger, we'll be waiting." Came Jill's voice over the radio, and the man mentally stomped down on the relief he felt, knowing that she wasn't safe until after they were both off that boat.

"See you soon. Chris out."

The hulking mass of the Queen Zenobia stood out in the dark sky, for all the world looking so much like her sister ship that it was no surprise that he'd mistaken it for the Zenobia in the first place. How was anyone supposed to know that the Queen Semiramis was also floating around the mediterranean? The real question was, why they hadn't been picked up by any agencies before this- although from a brief message he'd received from the MEPA the agency director had been trying to get the assistance from the FBC to find two of their missing agents for days now.

"That's it. The Queen Zenobia." Chris commented, and Jessica walked over to take a look.

"Oh jeez, more like what's left of her." The woman said, and not without reason. The ship was listing badly, and sitting very low in the water. Something passed by the craft, and Chris jerked to look at it Jessica reacting to his movements.

"Stay sharp, something is out there." Both moved towards the rail guns mounted on deck, something breached the surface of the water near them with a resounding roar, it looked like a giant tapeworm given a mouth and teeth and the duo didn't hesitate to open fire. It sank with a shriek but was soon replaced by another, and another after that.

"Oh gawd, why didn't we use the helicopter for this one Chris?" Jessica asked as they gunned down a fourth.

"The solar array fried all the electronics."

"How many of these things are there?" Jessica said as her gun overheated, and she fanned it to cool it down as quick as possible. They drew close to the ship, and the things seemed to clear away from the ship, so Chris dropped the rail gun in favor of grabbing his hooksnare. He slapped the glass of the cabin, giving the pilot the order to get the hell out of there as soon as possible before firing a hook at the ship, catching it the railing with a practiced ease.

"Jessica, come on. We have a promise to keep."

"Great, a cruise- just the two of us. To bad the whole thing is sinking." Jessica before following him up.

* * *

 _The Casino_

"Friendly BSAA patrons. You stopped the Regia Solis." Said the masked man said, words echoing in the tense silence. "Now I will reveal what I know. Everything about the Queen Zenobia and the secrets she keeps!"

"What secrets?" Parker asked with a sneer.

"Consider this: First, why did it take till now to find the Queen Zenobia? How was it able to float around the Mediterranean undetected? It wasn't magic." The man said with a hand gesture, "Second, why did all traces of Veltro vanish after the Terragrigia Panic?"

"Why don't you tell us?" Parker said back, gun dropping just a bit.

"Hu, and third. Why is someone trying to use the Regia Solis to destroy the Zenobia? The answers to those questions will lead you to an inconvenient truth. You were to have found it, and that-"

A shot rang out in the casino, seemingly too loud in such a confined space and the man fell dropping over the railing, and to the floor below. But neither Jill nor Parker had been the one to pull the trigger, and the trio looked over towards the source of it to find a familiar brunette woman holding a gun. Parker ignored the woman, dashing over to the fallen Veltro agent as a Chris man grabbed the gun from her.

"Jessica! Why did you fire?"

"To protect our people?" She said, not sounding a hint sincere about it. "Isn't that our job?"

Parker meanwhile moved toward the fallen man to flip him over, in some attempt to somehow get answers out of him.

"Don't you dare die!" He pulled the mask off the man's face, and recoiled at the sight of a familiar red haired man. Priss made the sound of a wounded creature as she realized who it was, putting her hands to her mouth to muffle the 'No no no no no.' that she was muttering quietly.

"Damn! Raymond?" Parker questioned, as if he couldn't believe it. Jill moved to stand close as well, reaching out and catch Priss as she seemed to lose balance. Her breath was coming out in harsh rasps, and Chris moved to join them Jessica trailing behind. "Why? Why play the part of Veltro?"

Raymond seemed to be unable to speak properly, and Parker leaned in close to hear what the man had to say.

"What do you mean?"

"Find the truth about Terragrigia." He said, before going limp and Priss shoved out of Jill's arms to move closer to the man. She felt his pulse, and gave his wound a close inspection but said nothing.

"What a terrible loss." Parker said getting to his feet, and Priss only shook her head giving the woman- the only person she was unfamiliar with a look that could kill. The ship bucked underneath them, and Priss was knocked over onto Raymond's body as Jessica lost her footing.

"This ship doesn't have much longer." Jill said, turning to Chris. "We can't let this virus contaminate the sea."

"We've already searched the Queen Semiramis," Chris said righting Jessica without a second thought, "I think I know where this ship's lab is. We should headed there now."

"Alright, I'll try to find a way to delay the sinking." Parker said, moving towards his old partner. There was something in his eye, a look that said she shouldn't argue- and she had no reason too so she agreed, uneasily. "Well, a little friendly partner swapping should keep us on our toes."

"Roger that." Chris agreed, try not to sound too eager. "We'll take care of the virus. You two buy us some time."

"Got it." Parker said turning to the redheaded woman, "Priss?"

But for the moment no answer was forthcoming, and Chris gave the woman a worried look before walking towards her. He was ecstatic to see her again, if for different reasons then finding his partner. Kneeling he put a hand on her shoulder, and gave it a small squeeze.

"Are you okay Priss?"

"No." She said, looking up at him with a sad smile. "It's good to see you again Chris, we'll have to catch up."

"Yeah, I'm sure everybody would like that. Claire said she missed your stupid puns."

"I miss her too." The woman said in a weak voice.

"Do you think you're up to coming with us?" Jill asked, a momentary silence fell and the redhead shook her head.

"I think I'll just stay here with Red, if that's okay with everyone."

"That'll be fine." Chris said, overriding the looks and any protests that the others might have given. "Do you have a radio?"

The woman blinked, and touched the device on her belt with a nod.

"Yeah, I've been keeping it off because I couldn't reach anyone."

"Turn it on, we're on channel ten. I'll let you know when we're about to leave." He finished, turning to Jill he handed a device to the woman, and they began to move away as Parker and Jessica moved off as well. "Here, these work anywhere- even underwater."

"Thanks Chris." They moved up the staircase and out of the Casino, through the back door. The moment it closed however, Chris pulled Jill to a stop gently. She turned looking at him and for a moment nothing happened- then she pulled his chin down giving him a hard kiss, and he pulled her into his arms. Now wasn't the time, but when it mattered the most- when the chips were down you had to make time. They'd both been given relatively easy missions to complete- 'investigate vague hints' or , 'find traces of your partner'- and suddenly what should have been routine became problematic and potentially fatal, at a rabbit pace.

"I was afraid I'd lost you there for a second." He said, taking in a deep breath.

"I was looking for you, you know." Jill answered back, voice humorous.

"I know that now." They stepped back out of their embrace, and they we're suddenly back to business. Although Chris' eyes lingered on her arm for a moment. "You're injured?"

"Just a flesh wound, nothing serious." She told him moving towards the ladder, "So, this is all Raymond's doing?"

"No, I think we've only heard half the story. There's a lot about this mission that doesn't make sense yet." He said, as they made their way down the ladder. "So, Priss is alive?"

"Yeah, color me surprised." Jill said before jumping into the water, Priscillia Kenton was for Chris a hard topic to cover. They'd been friends before Rockfort, and he had somewhat adopted her as another little sister. After all, what was one more red headed brat in the family.

Jill surface on the other side, pulling herself out of the water Chris following just after, picking up the conversation where it left off, a practice that was useful for when someone was on the go as often as she and Chris were. "She said she works for the MEPA."

"The MEPA? I actually got a message from them about some agents of theirs that have gone missing." He commented as they walked through the vent.

"Yeah, she's been through a lot."

"We should be able to cut through the bilge to get to the lab." Chris commented, and Jill nodded at this.

"We'll have to be careful, the water is infested with infected." the sound of something giving way in the ship made both agents move towards the water, and Jill dove in following Chris to a previously locked door- it required a keycard, which Jill had and she swiped it to get through. Down through various hallways and flooded stairwell to a ladder with a door at the top. It bore the symbol of a trident key, and Jill curse her lack of foresight. She should have asked for the keys from Priss when she had the chance, there wasn't time for it now.

"Here Jill, use this." Chris said, pulling a key from his pocket. She gave him a look like she clearly thought he was a magician "I found that key on the Semiramis. If the ships are the same this should lead to the lab."

Taking the key she opened the door to find a room that looked like it clearly didn't belong in a cruise ship. Bright white lighting, played off stark cold metal walls, and a bare white floor. Finding a corridor on the other side that was L shaped, they tried the first door but came up short as it required fingerprint identification. The second door was also locked- or in this case blocked on the other side by fallen debris, but it also had a large window that had been busted out and the duo found a finger printing machine within.

Jill put her fingerprint into the system, and gave herself full access before they moved to unlock the first door again. The door opened to reveal a room used for disinfecting scientist before they entered the lab, with two access doors, one wall was lined with lockers for biohazard suits, and the other held a shelf of knick knacks. More than that there was nothing, and Jill moved towards the long room. The door closed behind her, locking Chris out and she spun. But stopped short as she realized there was a window and a second room that opened allowing Chris to enter that one.

"Now sterilizing." Said a generic female voice, and Jill moved towards the door on the other end of the room. The sound of something shattering close by made Jill pause, and she looked around- the sound of something impacting the wall hard made Jill jump and the ground vibrated with the force of it. The lights dimmed, and with one final resounding crash a portion of the wall gave out.

"Jill! JILL!" Chris said suddenly frantic, as the thing emerged from the hole it'd made in the wall. Easily seven feet tall it stood on two feet, and had a dark thick skin with a pale white underbelly. One arm looked vaguely like a shield, and the other was a serrated blade, its middle however looked to be its weak point- if one could tell by sight at all. "Jill I'm coming for yah!"

She didn't hesitate to toss a grenade at the BOW, and it stumbled back- which she followed up with one of the depth grenade's Chris had given her. The thing roared in anger and pain, and taking a chance she pulled one last grenade tossing it at the things middle. It struck home, exploding and the thing gave one final cry of pain before sinking to the ground, ironically the door behind her pinged open and Jill only gave it a droll look for a moment before leaving the chamber. The room beyond had a tank set in the center, and a walkway around either side- a pair of double doors standing at the sides.

Once released from his side of the decontamination room, Chris took a moment to look her over and grip her hand tightly before they moved towards the double doors- which turned out to be a elevator and the duo boarded before pushing the button for the only available floor. The door opened to reveal a long strangely rounded corridor, and the two stepped out into it.

"Why try to hide these facilities on a cruise ship?" Jill said as they made their way down the corridor.

"Well, it does make a good cover. Who would ever suspect it?"

"Good point, I hope we can find out whatever the hell is going on." She said as the approached a large rounded door, and Jill queued it to open. The sound of gears working was followed closely by movement of several parts of the door and the heavy duty bolts keeping it sealed drew back one by one.

"So the virus is somewhere in this research area?" Chris said as they watched the door slowly pull open.

"The secret of Zenobia," Jill said as it revealed something neither of them expected to find.

* * *

End Notes: I couldn't leave that quote out, if you don't get it don't worry. It's not important, just entertaining. Reviews are being a bit odd, so if I don't respond right away, it's not because I don't like you XD


	10. Chapter Nine: No Exit

A/N: Augh, this heat wave is really messing up my sleep schedule- if things are worse then usual I apologize in advance, I think they look fine but I am also suffering from insomnia.

 **Update: 02/10/17**

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Nine: No Exit**

* * *

 _Crash Site 2:50 A.M_

Quint fussed over the computer terminal muttered under his breath as he hit a block and kept going, seemingly unaware of the cold that had Keith shivering. The darker skinned man gave his partner a look as he shivered, miserable after the extended period of exposure. No one would be happy to be out in the cold for this long, and yet his otherwise delicate colleague seemed to be entirely unaffected. Mind over matter, he couldn't help but think to himself.

"Well, well, well." Quint mutter under his breath, catching his partner's attention. "Whoa! That's amazing."

This was soon followed by furious typing, and Keith moved to look over his partner's shoulder curiously. As the duo watched the bar seemed to blink, and then suddenly stop. The tech began typing furiously again, cursing under his breath as his fingers flew across the keyboard. A momentary pause occurred, and the man put a hand to his face expression stunned- then the console simply died.

"Shit!"

"Dude, the hell is going on?"

"I have no fucking clue." Quint answered, and Keith took a moment to look at the terminal- but it was clearly dead. Quint rummaged around in his pack and came up with his thermos, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "On the plus side, this whole conspiracy is becoming clearer."

A long moment passed as the men stood there lost in thought- until something occurred to Quint with enough force that he spun, spilling his coffee across the dirty snow.

"We need to get back to the airport- on the double!" He proceeded to haphazardly throw his thermos back together, and dump out his coffee cup before taking off at a surprisingly fast run. His partner attempting to keep up with him in the snow.

"Slow up man! Where's the fire?"

* * *

The airport, by the time the BSAA duo managed to get back was deserted, bleak, and definitely creepy- as only a place devoid of humans can be. Empty buildings seeming so much bigger for their lack of contents, and lack of people they were meant to house. The duo walked towards one of the doors near by, as the wind began to pick up.

"Looks like nobodies home." Keith said, rubbing his arms. "Even the other team packed up. So ah, what are we doing here exactly?"

"Looking for clues man." Quint said moving towards a door, it was locked with a card reader and the tech began poking at it as his partner frowned at him.

"Newsflash, without them the place is locked up tight."

"Relax, I set up a backdoor." The tech mumbled pressing a few buttons before a cheerful chime sounded and the door swung open. "I can use any PDA to get in."

"Well why didn't you say that earlier man?" He said as the moved down in through the door that they'd entered previously. The corridor was just as damp and dank as it had been their first time through, so the men didn't bother to wait and look around- rather Quint maintained a healthy lead moving towards the room they'd found the information in. "Dude, you never answered my question. What are we looking for?"

The stepping into the room with the large overhead projector, Quint paused holding a hand up to his partner before answering.

"Look if my theory about Veltro is true- it's just too early to say." He finished clearly cutting himself off.

"Are you kidding me? Come on man!"

"I don't want to jump to conclusions; I need more intel."

"Fine, but how can we get this intel then?"

"There should be a computer somewhere in this base- if I can find it, we can get the intel we need to make an informed decision." Quint said walking on ahead again.

"Alright, let's find this computer then."

"I only hope it has a high powered CPU. That would be tits."

Keith only gave his partner a confused look as the moved towards the door near the end of the room, pausing as a low hiss seemed to echo through the space around them. A chair went flying from an unseen force, and Keith didn't hesitate to pull up his rifle and load the area with lead. If it was solid enough to throw a chair, it was solid enough to take a bullet. This theory was only proven correct as the creature rippled into sight before letting out a scream and falling forward.

"Shit, Quint please tell me that doors unlocked?"

"Yeah, turns out it's an elevator." He said at the thing pinged and the doors slid open. The duo boarded and Keith hit the door closing button several times.

"I don't wanna be here when that things friends show up." He said as the lift began to move down, and Quint's face clearly displayed that he hadn't considered that possibility. The lift itself shook and rattled dangerously as the pair descended, taking enough time to open when it finally stopped to make the men inside a bit nervous.

"You think that guys got friends waiting somewhere?"

"Man, I hope not." Keith said as he moved out into the large room beyond, it appeared to be a large storage warehouse, complete with packing crates and a multitude of boxes.

"Is that…" the tech trailed off as he caught sight of something across the room, "A real, in the flesh MB-28? GRINDER it's what I always wanted!"

The overgrown man child said as he all but danced across the room towards the machinery, and Keith moved to follow stopping as the heels of his boots crunched down on broken glass. He swept a quick look around the room, coming across nothing obvious- but the agent still couldn't shake the feeling that they were in enemy territory. The glass it seemed, had come from the windows above- large recesses in the wall of the building that must have been ground level from outside, as the room they were in was underground.

"Shit, nothing's happening." The tech said as he typed at the consol with a frown. "The computer needs more power- the MB-28 can be a real power suck. There should be an ample power supply here somewhere. Do you think you could turn it back on?"

"Alright, alright. You stay here and spend quality time with your girlfriend, I think it's just over here anyways." The man said moving towards something that did resemble a generator, it sat not far away from the elevator, and was rather obvious for the red blinking light that sat on its side.. "Alright I'm gonna flip the switch. Here's hoping this rusty piece of crap works."

He pulled the lever down, and the sound of electricity crackling rewarded him with the knowledge that he'd been correct. The red light switched to a soothing green, and he stood back looking over his shoulder.

"That's good," Came Quints voice, and Keith moved towards him. "But that still isn't enough electricity to fully power this thing. There might be another generator around here somewhere."

The man searched for a bit before finding the second generator on the other side of the room, surrounded by boxes. He pulled the switch on this one as well, and the red light faded to green in the dim room, and he turned to join his partner as the man whooped.

"Alright Grinder, we have full power. Now to just open this bad boy up!"

"You got anything?"

"Nah, I gotta get through the layers of encryption on this thing first." The tech said, amending with "But it should only take a few minutes with this baby."

"Just-" Keith's response was cut off by an otherworldly howl, and he gripped his gun looking around. It had come from outside, but the open windows meant that the two men were sitting ducks. He put his back to Quint, and took his shooting stance. "Might want to go as fast as you can man."

Another howl came and suddenly something large and furry was jumping through the window.

"Real fast."

* * *

 _The Queen Zenobia, Laboratory 3:16 A.M_

"That's the virus?" Jill said looking at the red vat in front of her, even from the door it was massive- at least twelve feet tall, it stood out like the alter of a god, set center stage in a room that was so large that she had to wonder how it managed to fit in the ship. The laboratory was rounded, with a catwalk on the outside an area of empty space, and a central raised area where the virus containment unit sat. The duo had to traverse the catwalks on the outside and access several panels to turn off electric fencing to get into a smaller lab that stood through a doorway that led off- out of the central room along with a smallish morgue for containing 'sample' BOW's.

Then a door from the morgue led out into the walkway to the center; Chris approached the over sized thing, as Jill looked over the railing to the space beneath them with no small amount of uncertainty. The water- if it was water was a deep red, the same deep red as what was in the vat and she had to wonder if that was simply water that had already been infected, or a high concentration of the liquid form virus. Logically speaking if it was, then they would already be infected, but the sight of such a thing was still unsettling. A glimpse of something moving beneath the surface made Jill back away from the railing, certain that she would much rather not find out what exactly it was. As distinct memories of over sized sharks trying to eat her came to mind, and she moved to stand next to Chris as he poked at the computer.

"I think this is the lab's control system." He said turning to look at her.

"Does it still work?"

"Yes, but we need a pass code to administer the neutralizing agent."

"Okay, I'll sweep the lab and see what I can find." She said turning to search the smaller lab area, but before she could get too far Chris stopped her touching her shoulder lightly. "Chris?"

"Just…" He said hands dropping, "Be careful okay."

"You know me." She said with a smile.

"I do." he said giving her a look that said he also knew about her ability to get into trouble.

Jill moved away, into the morgue searching high and low- starting with of course the desk, which sadly held nothing of use, some documentation that she would keep until later but not much else. There was also a strange smallish case, but she set it aside- it was locked with a fingerprint scanner, and wasn't linked to the system. The lab had nothing, and Jill turned around going back out to look around the vat some more. There was a ladder down one side of the central area, and into the red murky below- but Jill ignored that in favor of the elevator that stood on the other side of the walkway. The door was locked, but with some help from Chris it opened, and she stepped into the lift pressing the button for the only floor available.

The descent was quick and the door opened to reveal a room with several laser fences in place, and a door off to one side, behind another fence. For a moment Jill was at a loss- how was she suppose to know which ones were on and off? Where would she go from here? And that was when it occurred to her- the Genesis could detect them, in fact it was specifically designed to do a number of things, and detecting something like this was technically the least of its abilities. Looking through the scope she followed the flow of the lasers, eventually reaching a button she thought would turn them off, but she just wasn't that lucky- not tonight at least and it only seemed to switch the laser flow. But it did allow her access to the doorway that she had been blocked off from before, and using the genesis she wove her way around the fences and to the door with ease, she spared a look of pity for the body of a poor scientist that appeared to have been trapped behind the fences before moving on.

Jill took a moment to look out at the red liquid beyond the widow that was set in the wall with a grimace, searching for- well what exactly she wasn't sure. But there was something out there, she was sure of that. She moved towards the door, jumping as something impacted on the glass she'd just walked away from. A spider's web of fine cracks lined the window now, and she decided that this was as good a time as any to head through to the next room. The red metal door bore a prominent bio-hazard symbol on it, and the woman frowned as she pushed her way through.

Only to find something on the other side of the door that she wasn't expecting, yet another shield wielding BOW- and Jill made a quick move to toss a grenade at the thing before stepping back through the door, closing it against the resounding explosion. The creature roared from the other side, injured but not subdued and Jill had a brilliant idea. Throwing the door open, Jill ran back through the laser fencing to stand on the other side, waiting as the thing moved through the door. Predictably it attempted to run at her, but came in contact with the fences and was repelled with a jolt. But it didn't stop trying, instead it kept throwing itself at the fences until it finally collapsed, and Jill took the chance to put it out of its misery with a direct blast from her shotgun.

Then she moved back into the next room, which appeared to be some sort of observation room beneath the virus 'water line' as one side of it was completely lined with windows, and for a moment she stared out them morbidly before looking around. There was only one more door in this room, and when she opened the door the resulting room seemed somewhat of a let down. It was a cramped round room that looked to be some sort of security area, with a single door that led to another small room. This one at least was a lab, and appeared to contain a number of different computers, as well as the standard lab equipment- complete with a desk on one side, and another set of switches. Jill pressed it, and watched on the small monitor provided as the beams of the laser fences once more changed. Data on the virus was posted to screens on the wall, x rays of an infected person's brain cavity sat next to what looked to vaccine trial results, a computer at the back of the room seemed to have the ability to give her the information she needed, but she didn't have and employee access code to log on with, and Jill searched each of the items in the room before moving to leave.

Back out through the observation room and into the room with the excessive amount of fences, Jill stopped briefly by the corpse picking up a journal that seemed to have been left by the man. A vial of green fluid caught her attention, and she grabbed it as well giving it a searching look before she flipped through the journal. The information she read there made her pause, and it felt like a sudden inconsequential things that she'd notice but set aside for consideration later made themselves known. The director of the FBC was responsible for all of this. Jill gripped the prototype vaccine, and pressed the button on her radio.

"Jill?"

"Chris, you are not going to believe what I just learned. Morgan Lansdale of the FBC was behind the attacks on Terragrigia."

"So that is what Raymond was talking about."

"Seems like it." She said moving towards the door. "All I have right now is circumstantial, nothing to nail him for it yet."

To get back to the elevator, she would have to change the laser fences again- and as she entered the room with the button she decided that the best way to ensure the survival of the vaccine, was to give it a living being inhabit- so to speak, vaccinating herself would mean that she would carry trace amounts of it in her bloodstream, and if the tube shattered then it would be the only way for them to rebuild it. The vaccine administering machine made quick work of it, and despite her hate of needles she barely felt the prick of the machine as it administered the prototype.

Pulling her arm free, she was relieved to see that only a pin prick in her skin remained, so she took a moment to apply a small band aid from her pack before retrieving what was left of the anti-virus, turning to the computer to access the information she needed. The sound of something being crushed in the next room made her jump, and she turn towards the door as the information she requested from the computer completed downloading on the thumb drive she'd appropriated. She slid it into a waterproof sleeve in her pack before turning to go- there was no way it would survive without that.

Now she just needed to get back to Chris. The groaning sound of something giving way under pressure echoed in Jill's ears, and she turned to look at direction of it, before grimacing at the fact that it had indeed come from near the door; taking a few steps her fears were validated as the door began to leak the heavy red substance and before she could do anything more the door gave way under pressure, unleashing a torrent or red into the room. Sweeping her off her feet- literally it spun her around before knocking her into the wall as she fought to right herself in the liquid slew.

"Jill! Jill come in, answer me damn it!" Came Chris' voice across the radio, and Jill began to swim frantically for the next room. There were no air pockets here, and if she didn't find somewhere to breath soon she would drown. "This is an emergency, get back here now!"

She swam through the observation room, to the door over the electric fences, the elevator wouldn't work- but the window on the other side had been shattered. She swam frantically through the window with her chest feeling tight as she struggled to the surface, sputtering and coughing as she reached it.

"Jill!" She heard from above her and the woman looked up to see Chris leaning on the railing, fear marring his handsome features. "Get out of there! BEHIND YOU!"

She spun catching sight of something dark beneath the surface, and without a second thought swam for the ladder that suddenly seemed much too far away. Throwing a look over her shoulder made her swim faster, and as her hand grasped the first rung of the ladder she felt something grab her ankle. Her second hand moved to grab the ladder as whatever is was pulled on her leg hard, and she missed. The sound of gunfire from above seemed to reverberate in the otherwise quiet room, and the thing shrieked, letting go of her leg for the moment at least. Jill didn't care to find out if it would come back for more, and a grabbed hold of the ladder with both hands, hauling her ass out of the slurry and up the ladder as fast as she could.

Slumping to the floor of the platform with a heaving chest, and bone deep weariness.

"Jill!" Chris said moving to grab her and she had to hold her hand up to stop him.

"No! Don't touch me, I'm covered in that shit. If its the virus I can't risk infecting you."

"But…" Chris said, hands clenching before he punched the ground. "Shit."

"I think there's an emergency shower in the lab, come on." She said pushing herself to her feet. There was indeed an emergency shower in one of the corners, and Jill took the chance to completely douse herself. It was cold, but it did the job and she was clean- that was what mattered. The second she stepped out of the shower she was pulled into a hug by Chris, and despite the fact that she was obviously getting his front wet she didn't step away- the truth was that she needed it, that had been too close.

"Jill if you're infected I..." He said uncertainly and she immediately cottoned on to what he was getting at.

"I'm not." She said, and he gave her a searching look.

"You were swimming around in that mess."

"I found a vaccine while I was down there, I figured that the best way to get it out of here was to give myself a shot. I should be fine." The frown on his face didn't lighten up, but she could see him accepting this- for now. After a few minutes the duo was walking back towards the computer, and with the pass code it only took a few seconds to trigger the virus neutralization protocol.

"Authorization confirmed initialing neutralization program." Echoed from the computer's speakers, and the duo watched as injectors lowered to the top of the vat locking in place before the neutralization agent was injected. Then the computer screen mounted on the edge of the vat suddenly switched from the black background to a familiar face.

"Well done, BSAA. Your activities have been… eye opening."

"Morgan Lansdale…"


	11. Chapter Ten: Tangled Webs

**A/N:** Alrighty we are heading into uncharted territory with this chapter because I am changing some things up. I hope you guys like it, either way any questions/comments on this are welcome. As a side note, this is the longest chapter in this fic and it holds some obvious hints at other plots in the mix, as well as some very well hidden ones.

Updated:02/10/17

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Ten: Tangled Webs**

* * *

 _Casino 2:14 A.M._

"He never got the hint, what a drag." Jessica said as the duo walked away, and Parker only shook his head.

"Maybe he's already taken Jessica." The woman gave him the dark look at this, and the large man only shrugged as they walked away.

"Yeah, sure. Can we get started already?" She said looking to her old partner, then to the red head seated on the ground not far away. There was a distinct distrust in her gaze, as if the other woman was a piece of a puzzle that she couldn't quite place. But this look was soon masked, and Parker wasn't sure what to think of her anymore.

"Sure, we've been through hell before." The man said good naturedly. "Nothing new for us right?"

"Yeah, just like old times." The brunette said voice dull. "The good ole FBC."

Parker sent one last look in the direction of the red haired woman, and the man on the floor before joining his partner in walking up the stairs and out the door. The ship swayed heavily as they walked out of the casino and into the grand ballroom, weapons ready.

"So, what's the plan?" Jessica asked as the moved towards the stairway leading to the second floor.

"Get to the bridge, activate the bulwarks, and pray the ship stops sinking." The man said, pulling out his weapon. "Now that the power's back, we should be able to access the maintenance systems."

"Okay," Jessica said voice dropping into a purr. "We should split up then."

And this was for Parker a major red flag, as there really was no logical reason for the two of them to go in seperate directions; Raymond had warned the man to be careful around his ex-partner, but she had been his partner first. It was hard to believe that she might be a mole. He gave her a questioning look.

"There's something I need to check on first." She said, clearly dancing around trying to come up with an actual excuse. Parker almost felt disappointed, he thought he knew her- he thought she knew him. But if she thought this excuse would fly without inspection and not raise any red flags? She clearly didn't know him at all, but he would let her go- if only to set the trap he was about to spring.

"Okay, fine. I'll see you on the bridge." He said, unable to keep his disappointment out of his voice sadly. He watched the woman go, before turning to head towards the bridge.

* * *

 _Casino_

The subtle twitch of his fingers told me I was correct in my assumptions, and I watched as the man who had been 'dead' sat up- in pain but alive. A man whom I promptly smacked.

"Augh! Priss what the hell?" he said clutching his chest and giving me a dirty look as I stood, putting my hands on my hips.

"Don't you 'what the hell' me!" I said, proceeding to help him to his feet. "YOU DIED! I thought you were dead, again!"

I was certain my voice was hitting previously undiscovered heights, and I couldn't bring myself to care- there was still painful clenching in my chest. The sick feeling of loss in my gut, and the haunting certainty that if I pinched myself I would wake up to find I'd passed out and this was just a dream.

"I had to, Jessica shot me- if I wasn't certain who l was the mole before I am now." he said voice rough as he looked at me. Now probably wasn't the ideal time to be having this little snit, but I didn't think I could do much to quell the pain I was feeling, or the way it was making me act.

"Well it's a damn good thing you were wearing a fucking bullet proof vest now wasn't it." I said sounding a bit more like my adoptive mother then intended. "IF she'd shot you in the head you wouldn't have been as lucky- no matter how hard it might be. That fall could have killed you too!"

"Calm down," he said with a voice of nonchalance, and I smacked him again. Making him finally snap "Could you not do that? I might be wearing a bulletproof vest, but getting shot still fucking hurts."

The next thing I did wasn't really planned, but I was never good with plans- or that was what I told myself when I found my fingers gripping the front of his shirt, pulling his face down to mine, soft lips meeting chapped ones. But the moment I thought to let go of him, his hands came to rest at the back of my neck and we were kissing properly- not the rushed pressing together of lips in the vain hope that we somehow might have still find the spark we'd had so long ago. His kiss was hard as one hand slid down my back to lock around my waist, the other burying itself into my red hair. And for a moment that seemed to last forever- it was all teasing lips, and repressed emotions.

Toes curling as his tongue joined in, and my knees seemed to waver beneath me- then I was reeling as we moved away from each other, breathing raggedly I watched from the corner of my eye as he stood straight, pulling a mask over his emotions. I let out a small sigh turning to face him again, and he looked at me expression neutral- it hurt but we had more important things to focus on. Part of me couldn't leave it at this however, so I decided it was as good a time as any to say what I was thinking.

"Losing you, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with. I couldn't do that, not again." I said, swallowing in the face of a suddenly dry throat "So, what exactly should we be doing? I suspect that woman isn't just going to let us find whatever it is this ship is hiding and get away with it."

The sudden shift of subject seemed to catch him off guard at first, but he latched onto it as it was something that took us away from an uncomfortable subject.

"We follow Parker, Jessica will try to make her move when he least expects it." he said moving toward the door, and I followed him out into the empty grand ballroom- towards the Promenade, around the bodies of hunters that had obviously met the business end of Parker's shotgun- and the bodies of BOW's I'd never seen before. The only thing left of them were their lower halves, and I spared a grimace at the last one we came across in the hallways to the elevator. We stood in an silence as the elevator carried us up to the Bridge, stepping out into the hallway quietly- both of us were walking softly, him because he was trying to and me because I was trying not to step on glass.

Walking without boots on made my 90% quieter on all surfaces guaranteed- unless it was hot pavement, or glass and as we approached the bridge door he motioned for me to walk behind him, and my ear caught why.

"A spy had infiltrated the BSAA." Parker's voice drawled from the bridge, and Raymond put his hand to the door handle, turning it slowly and letting the door swing open quietly with as Parker's voice continued, "Morgan's mole. And it may be you. That's what Raymond told me."

"What are you talking about?" Jessica said, her voice not nearly as good at masking her unease as she thought it was. "We don't have time to-"

A gun went off, and I heard the bullet ping of metal as I slipped into the room behind Raymond, closing the door quietly behind me. The stairway hid our entrance from sight, but the gunshot had been Raymond and he gave me a small stay put motion as he moved up to join the man.

"Parker, we need to subdue that woman.

"Raymond.. how did you?" Parker said, and I moved to grab an item that I'd had hidden in my sling since our jaunt out to the foredeck. The slick silver barrel glinted in the dim light of the moon, and I checked the clip creeping up so I could see what was going on I ducked down as Jessica made to turn and look at the men. I may have been out of bullets for my own sidearm- but Hank's gun was something entirely different, and that was what I'd tripped over on the deck when we were running for our lives. Hank. Or what was left of him- that thought really wasn't helping, and I had to mentally slap myself and focus on the current events. Hank's Lady Hawke was heavy, heavier in my hand then I thought it would be and I had very few bullets to my name- but it would be enough, it would be enough if I had to pistol whip my way out of here.

"But you… you were." Jessica said quietly.

Raymond snorted before thumping himself on the chest, and despite his tough act I could tell he was still hurting. It was in the subtle pinch in his features, and the uneasy way he held the arm that wasn't aiming a gun.

"She's trying to activate the ship's self-destruct mechanism." He said giving her a hard look. "To destroy the evidence."

"What?" Parker said, his accent momentarily thickening as he spoke.

"Guys," Jessica began almost flirtatiously "This is getting out of hand, not funny! Come on, say something."

She was trying to appeal to her ex-partner, and I could see it there- the subtle way she turned to him as if she'd done this a million times before. Jessica might have- who knew if she was a spy for the FBC the entire time, it was likely that she'd played them all for fools. But Parker seemed to waiver- just a bit, I guess old habits died hard. I might have to step in, because this was looking like it might get nasty.

"Parker, it's me."

"I can't trust either of you completely." The man said finally, and I felt that if there was a table I would be flipping it right about now. You have got to be joking; okay I know that if I were in his shoes I would- after shuffling right of out of them because they were several sizes too big, probably be doubting Raymond too. He didn't know the Red head like I did, and the man had been leading them on- us I guess along the entire time. But there was definitely a glaring hole in this woman's story that was not adding up to the larger man. I mean, I could hear doubt in his voice aimed at both of them.

"Put your gun down Raymond."

"You're being too soft, don't be fooled Parker- she's using you." Raymond protested, and I was g decided to question where I was.

I saw her reaching for the controls- hand inching towards a rather large and obvious button, so I acted before anyone could see or stop me. The report of the gun was defining, and my arm ached but the resulting shriek was worth it, even as she pulled the her gun firing at me in retaliation. I'd hit her wandering hand, but her other hand went immediately to the gun she'd placed on the control panel. She fired off two shots at me, one skimming my cheek and the other- I wasn't certain as found myself knocked on my ass, heavyweight covering me.

"PARKER!" Raymond's voice said, and I looked down to realize the large man had been the one to knock me over a hand going to his chest and coming back stained red.

"Stupid bitch!" The brunette woman said, gun wavering as she was wracked with pain- I couldn't imagine the bones in her would ever set right after a shot like that. Raymond had no compunctions about shooting her however, and his gun was unwavering.

"Tell me Jessica- is your life really worth throwing away for a sleaze like Morgan?" He said, voice low and dangerous. He was backing her away from the control panel, and I moved to set Parker against something as the man threw dagger like looks of betrayal in her direction.

"I guess not," She said with a sneer in her voice. "Don't worry about dinner Parker. Now we're even."

"Jessica!" The dark haired man said, clearly in pain and not just because of the bullet wound. She dodged left running out the door even as Raymond fired a few shots at her, and I looked at his bullet wound- it was pretty bad.

"Raymond!" I called to the man, and he turned moving towards us. "I have stuff in my pack- but you need to look at this."

I pulled the zipper on my pack, hard enough to make it whine from the abuse, upending it and spilling things on the ground. Gauze and sterile pads for staunching wounds joined a pack of gum that I'd have forever on the ground, batteries for my radio a pack of playing cards- a bottle of aspirin.

"Go after her..." Parker gasped, shoving on my arm.

"But you-" Raymond said.

"Go!" Parker insisted and I put a hand up stopping the man.

"You stay, I'll go. You have medical training anyways." I said moving to run after the woman.

"Wait!" Raymond said, but I was already out the door following her loud footsteps. Really, who wears high heels to a place like this? I mean, not to knock her it did take skill to be able to stand upright let alone run in heels- but this was probably a poor choice on her part. I felt my own feet slap hard on the metal ground of the ship, through the corridor, around the lockers set back to back, down the L shaped corridor that I was now so familiar with. Into the room that sat above the library, I fired a shot at her in the showroom, missing but causing her to stumble- down into the dining room where was this woman even going?

She knocked over chairs and tables in her wake trying to slow me down, but I've been in Raccoon- I'd vaulted a few tables in my day. Through the double doors leading to the grand ballroom, back towards the Promenade- I knew where she was going. she was going to loop back around! She ran full tilt through the double doors, into the long straight corridor, her long legs meant she gained ground going around the walkway. But I caught up by jumping down from the balcony, through the open door up the long street like plaza. But she was exposed here, and I took the chance to fire at her- making her dodge and duck into the kitchen like building.

"Oh come on!" She shouted from her hiding place, "I didn't kill him, you should be grateful."

"Yeah, I guess you want me to just let you walk away right?" I spat back from my place near the planter- she took that chance to fire off a few rounds, missing but definitely hitting close to home.

" _I found you~_ " Seemed to echo through the room, in a low feminine voice and I felt my eyebrow rise at this, I didn't recognize the voice- did Jessica have backup?

"Very funny," Jessica said, and I found my frown deepening. "Yes you found me, like you haven't been chasing me this entire time. Stop being a creep."

"I didn't say anything." I spat back at her.

"Oh yeah? Who said that then- santa?"

I took a chance to look around the edge of the planter, and blanched at the sound of creepy giggling that filled the air.

"Now who's being a creep." I shot back at the woman.

"That wasn't me." Jessica said, and I think it was about that moment when both of us realized that we weren't alone. A shriek from the kitchen caught me by surprise and I looked over the planter to see Jessica firing feverishly at a rapidly approaching BOW, I brought my gun up to help the woman I'd been shooting at only second early. And promptly found myself cursing as the gun clicked empty, I hadn't checked to see how many rounds were left in the gun before pulling it- something that I should have considered before chasing someone down in a BOW infested nightmare. I pulled a clip from my pouch with my bad hand, grimacing as my little finger seemed to go numb.

" _Tasty MORSEL!_ " Echoed through the air as the BOW moved towards the woman at a rapid pace, slashing at her with one mangled limb. It was- or it looked like it might have been a rather buxom blond woman in a wetsuit- but now, well it definitely was not. The high heeled woman took the brunt of the blow stumbling, stepping back she put too much weight on the heel of her shoe- snapping it and the BOW took the chance to grab her while she was unbalanced the top of her head rearing back to reveal the long tube like mouth that these creatures used to eat. Biting down hard and fast on Jessica's exposed neck as I brought the gun up again and began to fire. The thing let out a shriek as my first shot clipped its shoulder, pulling back away from the woman violently as another shot hit and it dropped the brunette.

"It HURTS! IT HURTS!" The thing shrieked, and I fired again striking it in the face as it began to charge me, it swung its mangled appendage at me- knocking me tail over teakettle across the planter I'd been hiding behind. I kept hold of the gun however bringing it up as the thing grasped the front of my shirt, picking me up much like it had Jessica- but instead of coming down on my neck, like it did with Jessica. The soft tissue met the cold hard end of my gun, and I fired.

My ears range after this, and I felt the world seemingly dip and sway under me as the BOW literally dropped dead on top of me. I wasn't sure how long it took me to push the BOW far enough away for me to get up, or how long I stood trying to get the world to stop swaying, and the ringing in my ears to reside. But I do know that by the time I stumbled my way over to check on Jessica, she was very dead. Blood was everywhere, and my nose twitched as the tangy of fresh blood in the air- oh there was plenty of blood throughout the ship, not as much as anyone might expect, but the smell of fresh blood always got to me. I put a hand to my neck, pulling out a small bottle of essential oil that I used to clear smells out of my sensitive nose and took a snif.

My only verbal response was to swear really, I hadn't intended to kill her- logically speaking it was the right choice, but morally speaking it was the wrong one, and a small part of me had hoped to be able to talk her down. It seemed like such a waste, and I had wanted to bring Parker some good news tonight- but this definitely wasn't it. I turned to look towards the BOW, catching sight of something and felt my heart drop further- it looked like I wasn't going to be able to give either of the men a good news. The woman was unknown to me, but the canister on her back was printed with the FBC logo- if I was right this was Rachel.

"Raymond, Parker are you there?" I said looking down at the woman, or what had once been a woman.

"Priss? Did you stop Jessica- are you safe?" Came Raymond's voice.

"Yes, and mostly. Jessica is dead because she made poor life choices." I said simply.

"Damn it." Raymond said, and he sounded frustrated- although why was beyond me.

"Did she suffer?" Said a familiar breathless voice- Parkers and I took a moment to answer.

"No." He didn't really need to know the details now, I would tell him later.

"I should be glad you killed her, she was trying to kill all of us."

"But you aren't," I said, kneeling to close her eyes I felt responsible for this. "If it makes you feel any better, I was trying to take her alive."

"But you killed her."

"No, I didn't kill her.

"But she's dead." Parker's voice said skeptically. "You can see how I would be confused."

"I ran into Raymond's old partner." I said finally, getting to the point.

"Rachel's with you?"

"No." I said rubbing a temple. "What was left of her mauled Jessica, she nearly mauled me too but turns out they can not in fact eat bullets."

I felt callous saying it like that, but I was tired. Dead tired, how many ways could a person say they were weary to the point of giving up before it became true? I moved on towards the elevator, leaning against the wall as the vertigo I was suffering from refused to abate- shooting something so powerful that close to my ear was a bad idea, for a plethora of reasons. Paramount being that my ear was to close to a sudden overpowering noise- eardrums often burst from less, and they were actually a very important part of our sense of balance. The ear closest to the gunshot was still ringing, and I ended up rubbing it unconsciously as I listened to my radio with the other.

"Priss, have you been able to raise Chris or Jill?" Raymond said, breaking me out of my momentary contemplation.

"No, why?"

"We have a problem." He said and I frowned.

"I'm listening."

"The self destruct system that Jessica was trying activate is still active- the button was apparently just to accelerate the process. I can't turn it off, according to this we have a little less than twenty-five minutes to evacuate."

"And we can't get a hold of the others." I took a moment to asses the situation and decided on a course of action. "You should take Parker to the Foredeck and hail the BSAA for an evac."

"On it, I was just about to head up to the foredeck as we speak. You should rendezvous with us there."

"No, I'm going to head down to rendezvous Chris and Jill and warn them."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Raymond said, "If you get ambushed by a BOW-"

"I already have been; I've been on this ship for three days now. I can handle myself." I said reassuringly. There was a deep sigh from the other end of the radio before Raymond replied.

"Alright, there is a shortcut through the cage of the casino- but you'll need to find the key. I think-"

"I have keys Raymond." I said using my calmest and most rational voice "Just tell me where to go."

A few minutes later I turned ready to go stopping short as I realized that something was missing from the area, and I blanched as I realized what exactly 'it' was. Rachel was gone, and I noped out of the Promenade at a speed that made my feet hurt. Through the grand ballroom, into the casino and down the escalator- stopping as I heard a radio beep. I pressed the receive button, but got nothing but static. What? The noise occurred again, and I realized that it wasn't actually coming from this radio, I let out a deep sigh pulling a separate high powered radio that I carried- pretty much because I had no choice, flipping it on.

It only received and sent messages to one person, and he was not someone I wanted to deal with at the moment. But as with carrying the radio, I didn't have a choice- I mean of course he had something to do with this, when did that man ever keep his hands out of the virus cookie jar?

" _Hello Miss Kenton, I need you to pick something up for me."_

* * *

 _Laboratory 3:50 A.M._

"I knew O'brian and his dog Raymond were sniffing around my business." Lansdales voice said, echoing in the large chamber of the lab, reverberating in the ears of the BSAA agents as they viewed the man in question on the computer screen. "I didn't account for your involvement however. That was my only mistake."

"So it was you!" Jill said, anger building in her voice. "You attacked Terragrigia!"

"Jill! Look out!" Chris said, as the sound of something thumbed hitting the deck vibrated through the deck behind the woman. She spun gun raised, pulling the trigger as she confirmed that it was indeed a BOW. It dropped with a shot to the head, and she moved over to stand next to Chris as more BOW's began to drop into the room- seemingly from the vents in the ceiling.

"And it looks like my mistakes are about to be remedied. You stowaways aboard the Queen Zenobia, I hope you don't mind me watching you die."

Standing back to back the duo opened fire on the BOW's surrounding them, slowly and methodically taking them down one by one. One dropped to Jill's left, too close for her to comfortably shoot with her shotgun and she smacked it with the butt of her weapon, knocking it over the railing and into the slurry below, and without missing a beat something breached the water from below snapping the thing up in a vast worm like maw. Another BOW moved in- this one carrying the blade arms that she was all too familiar with, and she grabbed Chris as it struck out making them both duck low. Its blades caught another in the stomach, sending it flying and both let out an angry shriek as the Jill and Chris ran for one of the raised platforms in the room. Having higher ground made it easier to pick off the weaker enemies, and as the last of them fell the agents took a moment to breath.

"Virus neutralization complete." The voice of the computer said as if to mock them, and the pair jumped down moving back toward the vat in the center.

"Ahhhh." Came the sound of Lansdale's voice, clearly taken off guard by their success. "I should have expected as much from the duo that brought down Umbrella. However, your days of playing cops and robbers is now over. I do hope you understand the gravity of my making a personal appearance. Hn I have a great weakness. I am fearful of things, even little things. And must clean up every last imperfection. The BSAA, my dear Director O'brian- your whole organization. You cause nothing but trouble."

The screen changed, showing them an overview of a ship that was all too familiar.

"The Queen Zenobia." Jill said, voice disbelieving. For a moment nothing happened, and then it began, from the furthest end of the ship to the front explosions went off, one by one. The hull titled slipping below the waves, gradually sliding out of sight into the murky depths.

"Well, the proud Queen Semiramis; She chooses death rather than suffer indignity. As will the Queen Zenobia." He said, and it was at that moment the sound of something heavy hitting the deck drew the attention of the duo. "Oh my, you seem to have missed a spot."

A pair of the sword and shield wielding enemies were advancing on them from, and Jill gripped her shotgun.

"I'm out of explosives." She muttered to her partner, and the man nodded as they began to back towards the door. But even as Jill tried it, she realized that there was nothing she could do- it was locked, and they both lifted their guns as the BOW's began to charge towards them, and that was when the door opened to a very welcome sight.

"Priss!" Jill said dodging in through the door, Chris on her heels. The red haired woman slammed the door behind them before rushing to a computer that was set to the side of the morgue, hands tapped keys and the sound of the door locking again reached their ears before the sound of hammering came from the other side.

"Heya guys, happy to see me?" She said, moving towards the doorway to the lab, her wetsuit was soaked, and she looked like she'd just come from a tough swim.

"You have no idea." Chris said.

"Well you're about to hate me because we have to go!" She says as the hammering on the door seemed to increase.

"What and leave behind our gracious hosts?" Jill said sarcastically.

"Well there is that, but I was thinking that it would be a good idea to get the hell out of here before the ship blew up." The redhead said before muttering something under her breath,that sounded vaguely like. "It's in the morgue he says, you shouldn't have any trouble finding it he says."

"Priss?"

"It's nothing." She said finally waving it off with a sheepish look, they moved through the lab and out the door

"This is Hat Trick! Kirk here at your service." Came across their radios as the moved through the corridor. A low murmur of 'Of course the can get ahold of them now' was uttered by the redhead as she gave her own radio a dirty look, but the duo ignored her. "I'm on standby over the Zenobia, I have two with me already. Rendezvous on the Foredeck. There's not much time, so get moving. Repeat, this is Hat Trick. "

"On our way Hat Trick." Chris said through his radio as they bolted down the walkway on the outer rim of the lab. Through a door at the end that they hadn't had access to before, into another brightly lit hallway through the door at its end and down a flight of stairs towards a ladder shaft. The shaft was flooded, and the trio leaped in one by one, swimming down into the depths through collapsing flooded hallways as the ship finally announced its impending demise.

Up a set of stairs and down another hallway to an area that overlooked an area, the moved towards a hallway that led off to one end stopping short as it the ground shook, and the hallway was covered by flaming debris.

"Oh good, and now we're on fire." Priss muttered as they turned towards the lower area and jumped down into the thigh high water. Down this hallway, and around an engine component in time to watch it explode behind them, down another half flooded hallway as Chris pulled ahead leading the way. Reaching the far door, he waved them on. The ship rocked beneath the women, and they sloshed through the water towards the man- stumbling back as the ceiling collapsed in front of them.

"CHRIS!" Jill yelled, steadying Priss as they searched through the debris.

"I'm okay!" Came a much welcome voice, and the duo breathed sighs of relief. "I can't get back through, I'll find a way around and meet back up with you two okay?"

"Better double time that Chris," Priss said as the ship bucked.

"Roger that, see you on the other side." He said, and the sound of a door opening queued his leaving.

"Why does shit like this always happen?" Jill said turning to Priss, the red haired woman only answered with a shrug as they turned towards the only other door in the corridor, up a set of stairs, and down another into a flooded room that looked to be where the BOW's came to party as a number of them seemed to be floating listlessly in the water. A steam valve burst, blocking off the corridor forwards and the woman had to dodge some of the more lively BOW's to find the valve shut off button. Into the corridor beyond- to find a very welcome sight.

"Chris!" Jill said moving towards him giving him a half hug and a kiss on the cheek before moving on- there really wasn't time. Into a room that hosted several large boilers, and towards the door on the other side.

"Did anyone else noticed that, that room was both sinking and on fire? That's a nice look, remind me to talk to my interior decorator about this." Priss said as the moved along the next corridor.

"Your being worryingly nonchalant about this whole, 'ship blowing up thing'." Jill said as they moved of a set of stairs, breathless.

"Well," Priss said as they moved along a wire mesh catwalk, "You should be too, I mean I am almost always surprised when we go somewhere and people don't ask us to leave by putting on their own personal self destruct sequence."

"Not everybody is Umbrella." Chris added with his own breathless laugh, and the trio pushed through the door into what looked like a portion of the engine room. They came out on level above the main walkway, and the trio took turns jumping down. Turning off another steam valve as the moved along, up a ladder along a catwalk weaving around several large vents. Up another ladder into a service corridor, only to jump down onto the top of a damaged elevator. Up an exceedingly long ladder set into the side of the elevator shaft Priscilla cursing vehemently.

"FUCK LADDERS! Why are there so many ladders on this ship?"

"Just to spite you!" Jill said reaching the top, "Is it working?"

"You think your so funny." The redhead said coming to the top, "But looks aren't everything.

"Come on you two! Lets gun it." Chris said moving through the corridor and out onto the side deck of the ship.

"Kirk here!" Said a voice across their radios as a helicopter buzzed the side of the ship. "Are you guys good? I'll fly along to the foredeck, hurry!"

The ship bucked and tilted, and Jill grabbed Chris for balance dodging a loose container- Priss gripped the metal railing, and for a moment the trio waited assuming the ship would right itself, but it didn't take them long to realize that this was the way it was going to be. They pushed on, hiking up the deck dodging debris as it was torn loose. Jill and Chris had to waited for their comrade after the ship shook some particularly, as she was using the banister for balance- it was clear that the woman was flagging badly.

"Priss?" Chris said, and the woman looked at him.

"Sorry, it just hurts so much." She said pushing herself along- it was clear to the duo that her right arm was suffering from the nights abuses.

"We'll make it." Chris said, grabbing the back of her wetsuit and dragging her along. His voice was confident, and he refused to think of the alternative. He'd lost his friend once, he wouldn't do it again. "We're almost there."

The trio moved into the inner hallway, through a door and out onto the foredeck- there appeared to be a helicopter on the flight deck, but it wasn't the same one they were in contact with and there was a moment of confusion. The ship rocked with an explosion, and the BSAA agents stumbled back as Priss was thrown to the ground completely. The three watched as a massive twisted tentacle slammed down on the copter, crushing it as something an inexplicable reared out of the ocean to look down on them. It was a massive mockery of something that looked to once have been a whale, it had several of the large tentacle like appendages and it seemed to ooze a red virus laden liquid from its mouth.

"This is Hat Trick do you read- extraction in not possible at this time. I'll execute a holding pattern, and try to provide air support Hat Trick out."

"What the fickle de uck." Priss said pushing herself up, "Are those parasites?"

The tentacles did in fact appear to be massive worm like creatures with hissing mouths, and the trio found themselves scattering as one of said parasites struck out at them, face smashing into the deck. The sound of gunfire from above caught the attention of the trio on the ship, and one of the parasites quailed under the gunfire.

"This is Raymond," Said a familiar voice across the radio, "If we can beat back these things, we can drop a ladder."

"Roger that." Chris answered, and the trio unleash fire on the nearest parasite, it reeled back with a shriek- disappearing back into the body of its host, a second doing the same as fire from the helicopter drove it back. The thing reared back with a shriek, parasites retreating as someone somewhere used a rocket launcher and the helicopter came in low dropping a ladder to the trio. Jill scaled the ladder with a vengeance, Chris not far behind as Priss brought up the rear. A second screech echoed through the air as Jill made into the helicopter's open door, and one of the monsters parasites lashed out grabbing the bottom of the ladder pulling on it and sending the helicopter spinning dangerously. Chris gripped the edge of the deck as Jill pulled on him, and the man turned back to the third person on the ladder.

"Priss, grab my hand!" He said as the pilot fought for control of the aircraft, and the redhead hesitated for a second before reaching for the man. The sound of something snapping and giving way under pressure registering as the partners watched the ladder pull free from its moorings. And their friend drooped down still gripping the ladder with a look of terror, the ladder wrapping around the parasites head as the woman dangled like a pendulum from the end before slipping a short way to the deck- landing on her back, and for one long moment she didn't seemed to move.

"No!" Came the voice of the red haired man in the helicopter as Jill pulled Chris into the aircraft shaking. "PRISS!"

He all but shouted into his radio, emotion making his voice crack.

"Get up! You have to get up."

"Hat Trick, pull around!" Chris said, moving towards an item in one of the many nets- a rope used for repelling down onto the surface of an area, not ideal but better than nothing.

"I can't do that Chris, I would be putting us all in danger."

"We are not leaving her there!" Came Raymond's voice, a sentiment that Chris, Jill and Parker all echoed. But before Kirk had the chance to respond, a hail came across his radio.

"Hat Trick, this is Side Swipe. Come in Hat Trick."

"This is Hat Trick," The man answered as a sleek black military grade helicopter came into view- stopping to hover in place.

"Has the ship been evac'd?" Said a masculine voice.

"All but one- we can't get to the deck." Chris answered for the man.

"Roger that, if you can distract this giant son of a bitch we can fly in for the pick up."

"You bet your ass we can." Answered Chris, moving to pull out the big guns. "We can't let this thing roam free."

Chris moved to ready two massive chain guns grabbing on, Jill taking hold of the other as they began to pepper the thing with bullets. It reared back again, away from the deck allowing the other aircraft access to it and the pilot didn't hesitate to swoop in.

* * *

"Priss. Priss. Come on. Wakie wakie- eggs and bakey." Came a familiar male voice on my radio as I lay gasping for breath. I wasn't dead but I wasn't sure I could get back up after this, my arm was numb- and not the happy kind of numb the dull aching kind that said I might have popped it back out of the socket again. My lungs were struggling to get air, as the landing had knocked it out of me. But I tried as hard as I could to ignore this, to ignore the pain in my back and move. "Prissy I'm not fond of pressuring people- but I didn't fly my ass all the way up from Africa at your request to leave you on this thing. GET UP!"

The voice again- a male voice that I was familiar with, but my mind was having trouble connecting the dots. I pushed myself up roughly as the sound of something sliding open reached my ears. Turning I caught sight of a black helicopter hovering above deck, and an open inviting door, there was a woman standing at the edge in a black outfit complete with bulletproof vest and she seemed to be beckoning to me, sort cut dark hair fluttering in the breeze. I stumbled across the deck drunkenly reaching the aircraft, clawing at cold hard metal of the deck to pull myself in as the woman in question hefted me up before slamming the door close. The hard metal of the floor felt good on my cheek as I lay there panting, but I wasn't there for long as she hefted me onto a medical bench in the back and moved to secure me. My arm scream in pain at this, and I voiced this sentiment for once as the helicopter rouse into the air away from the deck of the ship.

"Package collected- feel free to shoot the shit out of this thing. I know I do!" Said the pilot, and the sound of gunfire filled the air.

* * *

A/N: Am I the only one who thinks 'Hat Trick' is the coolest call name? I mean come on, Vermillion isn't bad but Hat Trick is pretty damn cool.


	12. Chapter Eleven: The Queen Is Dead

A/N: I feel I should comment that 'Side Swipe' is not in fact the character from transformers, I am just borrowing the name because someone needed a call sign and nothing good was coming to mind. This marks that last chapter of this story- if you don't count the Epilogue, which will be out as soon as I finish it. Having said that, I feel that I may write additional content for romance purposes- because I know of at least a few people who would appreciate it. But that will probably be in a few one shots, or something similar.

 **Updated:02/10/17**

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Chapter Eleven: The Queen is Dead**

* * *

 _Above the Mediterranean 5:30 A.M_

Between the two choppers, the massive mutated BOW didn't stand much of a chance and as they were pulling away from the wreckage of the Queen Zenobia, Chris couldn't help but feel that they'd gotten off rather lightly. One of them hadn't been as lucky, but with any hope the other chopper was taking her to a good hospital. That didn't stop Chris, Jill, or Parker from wanting answers- and they knew the man to ask for them.

"Something was off," Raymond said finally, and this seemed to garner a keen look from Parker, even in his loopy state as he had been given a mild anesthetic to help with the pain.

"You said that before." Parker commented, "In Terragrigia."

"The delivery and dispatch of the B.O.W's. It was too professional." The red haired man continued with a nod. "How could they manage to evade the FBC's intelligence network without a trace or hint of their existence. It just didn't add up, not unless somebody wanted it to happen."

"And someone did?" Chris said, cleaning his pistol. "I take it that someone was Morgan, but how did you guess it was him."

"I never suspected him initially, I'll admit- he was beyond reproach you know? One of those people who seemed untouchable. But when we were in Terragrigia I got injured, Parker sent me on ahead- wouldn't leave me behind even. I must have taken Morgan by surprise, because he was talking to the head of Veltro from his cellphone." The man seemed to deflate, even as Jill handed out bottles of water to the group.

"Here, we're all exhausted, and at least two of us are injured-"Jill said, opening a bottle of water for herself. "Take your time, we still need to hail O'brian for the next course of action."

"If I'd had a recording of what I heard, if I'd only done something then all of this could have been avoided." Raymond mutter taking a drink.

"There was nothing you could do Raymond," Parker said from his spot against the wall. The man was in pain, and clearly exhausted- but still as good natured as ever. "Not even I listened to you- I'm sorry Raymond, you were right all along. Thank god somebody was on top of things."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Parker." Raymond said with a roll of his eyes. "I don't think any of this went to plan for anyone."

For a small amount of time the group rested while Chris contacted O'brian for further information.

"I have to apologize Chris, with a mole in the BSAA I couldn't risk telling anyone my plan." O'brian said over the radio, after giving the group a lengthy explanation of the plan that had gone so badly and been so demanding.

"And for all that work, both the Semiramis and the Zenobia are gone." Jill said, grasping the heart of the matter, even if it had been circumstantial evidence those ships had carried the sum of their proof that Morgan was the culprit, and without them the case they were building would be nothing.

"I don't think it's time to give up yet, Keith and Quint have left us with an ace in the hole." O'brian said, and the group shifted hopeful. "They sent us data from the mountain hideout- we've had it looked at and they've come back with something."

"What have they found?" Jill asked.

"Well, we assumed Veltro made use of the two sister ships in the Terragrigia Panic, but there was a third."

"The final Queen…" Jill said trailing off.

"Yes, the Queen Dido." O'brian affirmed, before adding "She's been resting on the seafloor since the day of the Panic- who would have guessed that she would hold the secret's we were looking for?"

"Which means," Chris said looking at his partner "That we'll find everything we need at the beginning of all this."

"Terragrigia." Raymond said, looking at Parker.

"Exactly, we have a responsibility to see this mission through to the end. We owe Morgan's victims that much. You know what needs to be done- O'brian out."

"Kirk, you know where to go I assume?" Chris asked, closing the computer that he'd been using up until this point.

"Roger that Vermilion." the pilot said and the aircraft switched from its holding pattern over the wreckage of the Zenobia and into motion once more, even as the group discussed plans for how they would proceed.

"Chris and I will take the scuba gear and dive to the wreckage of the Dido," Jill said pulling it from its place in the rear of the chopper. "But Parker needs medical attention, as soon as possible."

"I agree, I've stopped the bleeding for now but I don't know if I've covered everything" Raymond said from his spot next to the injured man, he was much to Parker's discontent keeping the large man awake- as injured and tired as he was, it wasn't safe for Parker to rest just yet. "We should be able to get clearance to take him to the nearest hospital by copper, so all we should be able to head off as soon as we drop you two. Will you be okay?"

"As odd as it may seem," Jill said helping Chris with his gear "I've been in worse situations."

"Somehow I'm not surprised." Raymond commented, as Chris began to help Jill with her gear in turn. The pair moved in concert with one another adjusting straps, and other similar things as they came in low over the remains of Terragrigia and the Queen Dido.

"Approaching drop off point." Kirk said over the radio, "You two good to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Jill said, and Chris gave his affirmation as well- with that the duo jumped.

* * *

 _Wreckage of the Queen Dido_

The water around Terragrigia at least was warm this time of year, and diving down to a point where the duo could access the ruins of the Dido wasn't terribly difficult, the seafloor beneath them wasn't that far down- not necessarily as close as it looked, as clear water tended to make things appear closer than they actually were. But not so deep that they would be in danger should the dive to it either. The sea life it seemed, hadn't suffered from the viral outbreak in any obvious way, and it was only when they spotted debris that either of them noted discoloration or death to the local coral population.

The sinking of both the Dido and Terragrigia had been devastating to the local environment, but to see it recovering was a bit heartening- it was too easy to recall the effects that oil spills from the Dido, and several smaller ship had caused after the attack. Human kind hadn't been the only victims of this callous and unnecessary pollution. They came upon the Dido itself rather quickly, visibility in the water being decent at the moment, and it loomed out of the bright water below them, as they dove down to reach the deck.

"The Queen Dido." Chris said over their radio as the moved towards the the nearest door, with any hope they would be able to simply open it, and not have to pull out the gear it took to pry something like this open under water. It took both of their strength to twist the wheel on the door open, rusted thought it may have been and the small rush as the water moved into fill any air pockets that might have exited with the door closed almost pulled the door shut again after she was done.

Sealife hadn't waited to overtake this portion of the ship, and as they entered the underwater room, they spotted various corals growing on the rusted metal surface l but nothing indicative of Veltro's presence aboard the ship. They moved towards the next door, and unfortunately this one took more time to open as they actually did need to use their underwater cutting tools to cut through the thick metal. A submerged staircase was on the other side, and the duo had to turn on their flashlights to see in the murk and the gloom of the ship's inner workings.

"It's so quiet- almost like time itself has stopped for the Dido." Jill said as they swam around a corner, halting as she spotted something familiar in the next room. "Oh man, the blobs we found on the beach… They came from here?"

Floating in the center belly upturned sat the amorphous corpse of a creature that anybody would call a 'blob', it was roughly the size of person- but the most unsettling part of it was the fact that its outer layer looked to be human skin, or rather like it had once been normal human skin. It was now vaguely the color of a submerged corpse for obvious reasons.

"This is the same sort of creature you and Parker found on the beach when you were investigating yesterday?" Chris asked taking the chance to look at it closer.

"Yeah, this must be their source." She commented heading through the room towards the next door.

"That explains why Morgan cordoned off the area."

The next door also had to be cut open, and it sank from its cut hinges to reveal an area with yet more of these creatures, and that was when Jill realized that these things had indeed once been human. As one such creature had been killed halfway through the change, Veltro mask still in place. Turning left Jill swam down a dark corridor, spotting the corpse of a Veltro agent at the end and found herself quickly backpedaling as a blob moved through the water teeth catching on the corpse and swallowing it whole. The things didn't have eyes, but they didn't seem to need them as the thing managed to avoid running into any walls nearby. Their bulk was deceptive, as they seemed to swim through the water quick enough to give even Chris pause.

"Careful," He said as they looked down both sides of the corridor before heading away from the direction that thing had gone. "I don't like our chances if we have to try and fight these things off underwater."

This end of the hallway yielded nothing, and they were forced to backtrack and go down the same direction as the blob had- but encountered nothing but a door in the end. It had somehow managed to wiggle out of a hole in the ship's hull, and Jill could only bid it good riddance at this. It opened to reveal another room- with two doors, one of which had a rather large set of bars on them and Jill guessed that this was probably the way they would have to go. But rather than waste any further time trying to open it, she moved to the bar laden window that led into the room as well.

This room had a ladder the went up surprisingly out of the water and a sealed hatch- opening the hatch revealed an extensive air pocket beyond, and the duo surfaced into it- checking oxygen content before removing their masks. The duo removed their gear in the red lit room above, readying themselves for anything- that there was still air even after all of this time was miraculous. And that was when they spotted the first corpse- it should have been there, nothing from the FBC really belonged on this ship, but to find a man in full FBC attire dead but still present made the hair on the back of their necks stand up.

Morgan had been attempting to erase this evidence too- but had he succeeded? Only a thorough search would tell them. What was really unsettling about this however, was the fact that the man had been clearly eviscerated by something, and this was what made the duo pull out their weapons.

"There's something in his hand," Jill commented pushing the man so she could access whatever it was, and after a bit of pushing and tugging she came up with what looked to be a tape recorder. The brunette tapped the play button, sitting back on her heels as they two of the listened.

"This is agent Dario Barioni of the FBC armed forces. The time is 19:48. I request that this recorder be handed over to General Lansdale if found by the next team. Everyone on my team is dead, killed by the devil himself. We were unable to retrieve the video log. Our mission is a failure. Veltro- they weren't waiting for their deaths to come to them. When the FBC arrived, they were waiting for us. Even though Terragrigia was suppose to be the end of them, there they were, thoughts of revenge kept them alive-" Some sort of static, or perhaps the screech of some animal cut off whatever else he was saying and the duo looked at each other with great concern. This was not on their list of possibilities when they decided to dive for the wreck, it didn't deter their mission- but it didn't help things either.

"Forewarned is forearmed at least." Chris said checking to make sure his gun was fully loaded. Jill moved to the door on the other side of the room, giving Chris a look that asked if he was ready, he only nodded and she pushed open the door moving into the partially lit interior of what had once been a guest wing, complete with crooked artwork on the walls, and fine carpeting. At points there was the occasional splatter of blood, and the flickering light only added to the creep atmosphere. A large pool of blood congealed in the center of the hallway at one point, and the duo did their best to step around it, and on they moved until the reached the macabre remnants of what had once been a dining room. A long dining table played host to the swathed bodies of several Veltro members, bloody handprints littered the walls in several places and candelabra's with lit candle sat, as if enshrining those laid to rest in this place.

The duo chose to move on without comment, pushing open the door at the end of this room- into a room that was clearly some sort of staging room for the Veltro, as their hung a spotlight against the wall a Veltro flag surrounded by old filming equipment. Cobwebs hung around several of the items in question, and as Jill moved across the room she seemed to trigger one of the machines- activating an overhead projector. The image was cast on one wall of a camera that appeared to be filming the ceiling at first- but then a man righted it, a grizzled face that both agents easily recognized as the leader of Veltro.

"The Queen Dido is already deep below the sea." The man began to say, "There is no escape, no chance of survival. Unless-"

The man moved, pulling out a container of familiar red fluid- he seemed to grab something from offscreen before moving to insert the virus container into it, it was an injector and then without hesitation the man injected himself before collapsing back into a chair.

"Veltro, in honor of thy name, we accept our wrongdoing, and transmute our flesh in remembrance of our sins. But for you Morgan," The man said pointing at the camera, "Never shall there be rest. We shall rise from the dead, our spirit a callous and immutable force."

He pulled an item from his pocket as he spoke, stopping to cough before holding up the item and saying finally.

"All of our interactions are right here. We shall become guardians of the truth, for as many years as it may take." And then the feed cut to static, leaving the duo with the fuzzy silence and an uneasy feeling.

"Jack Norman, the head of Veltro." Jill said finally.

"And he has the video we need to nail Lansdale." Chris amended as they both looked towards the next door.

"Let's get this over with." She said finally, and the pair moved towards the next door not sure what to expect. It opened to reveal a long tilted hallway, and as if walking into hell itself they descended the plush red carpet to the next door.

"Vengeance of god oh how much artest thou." Seemed to come from the door at the end in a masculine voice, "By each one to be dreaded, who doth which was manifest unto mine eyes!"

Jill looked to Chris as they reached the door, and with that they opened the wheel shaped door knob into a vast destroyed ballroom. Like some great darkened cathedral, the walls were covered in stained glass murals and tapestries, lined with large marble pillars the floor was made black and white marble designs, and center stage to this all was a chair set at the very back on a raised platform.

Sitting in that chair was the man himself, Jack Norman- muttering lines of text to himself over and over again. Perhaps the only reason they noticed him at all was the candelabras that seemed to halo him like a saint. Perhaps in his own mind he was, but that didn't stop him from also being mad.

"MORGAN! Morgan Lansdale!" The man began to bellow as he caught sight of the BSAA agents, mistaking them in his madness for his enemy. "How dare you cross Veltro-"

But whatever else he might have said was cut off with a cry of pain as he seized, writhing in pain. A moment later his thrashing ended, and he moved to hold something up weakly waving his hand around as if taunting them.

"Is this not what you seek? Indeed, funny how such a small machine can hold such a vast and terrible truth. All the truth needed to bring down your precious charade-"

Whatever else the man had to say was lost in shriek as his body once more writhed in pain, and the cell phone- for that was what it was fell from his grasp, tumbling to the ground below. That more than anything scared Jill, and for a moment as she raced without thought across the ballroom to pick the item up- she feared that perhaps he had unwittingly destroyed everything he was trying to rub Morgan's face in. Grabbing it, she backed away from the screaming man while inspecting the phone. It didn't seem to have come to any harm, and with the duo booked back towards the door.

"STOP!" the man screamed at them, and for all that their instincts scream for them to run, the turned to look at the man. His body seemed to be twisting in on itself, expanding as he mutated and with one final explosion of blood the man became something infinitely more terrifying. Twin spines ran up either shoulder blade, and his heart seemed to enlarge pumping furiously as he moved and as they watched he suddenly and inexplicably disappeared and reappeared- going from the daiz to the ballroom floor. He charge at them, making Jill and Chris jump apart, and the woman began furiously searching for a plan to take him down.

His heart was his weak spot, but even as she considered this she had to move again dodging down and rolling under his next swing.

"CHRIS! Aim for his heart- I'll try to line him up for you!" She said, running to the far end of the ballroom to draw him off and then dodging again as he launched an attack that carried him into one of the stop pillars. His heart was only exposed when he lunge for her, so they had to get this just right for it to work. She ran, back towards Chris, back and then almost instinctively she dropped and rolled at the thing teleported before charging at her- charging at Chris and that was when the man began firing, hitting it in the chest rupturing its heart. It shrieked in pain rearing its head back, and that was when she spotted the pulsing parasite on its back.

Without hesitation she ran at it leaping on its back as she held onto one of its fin like protrusions, slashing at the thing with her knife cutting it deep and with an inner prayer pulled out a grenade and shoved it into the wound before dropping and rolling away. A resounding explosion echoed through the room, and as Jill pushed herself up to survey the damage she let out a sigh of relief. Whomever it once might have claimed to be, it was not anymore- and she thanked her foresight to add the grenade as she restocked on the chopper.

"This is how Morgan treats his friends. Its sad really." Chris said as they moved to stand together once more.

"I can only hope he finds more comfort in death." Jill said pulling out the cell phone that had cost some so dearly. With a little maneuvering and a few button pushes she copied the video on the cellphone to a more secure area before setting it to play. Through a doorway the camera watched as the two men spoke conversationally about unleashing BOW's and the virus on the innocent people of Terragrigia. An exchange of information, the gift of a case of virus vials and the fates of so many sealed for the sake of one man's crusade. It was enough to make her sick, and without a second thought she set it to play on the BSAA's big screen for all to see.

"We're done here." She said to her partner, and putting the cell phone away she took the chance to pull her partner close and Chris responded by wrapping his arms around her. "I think I need a vacation."

"Agreed, somewhere nice-" He said thinking about it before adding. "Kinda done with the tropical thing for the moment."

* * *

End note: Does anyone else think that Jack Norman/s ability to teleport to wherever the crap he wanted to was a bit cheaty? I ended up knifing him to death once because I ran out of ammo- not easy or fun.


	13. Epilogue

A/N: So Epilogue *Throws confetti thank you for saying with me for so long, with any hope this chapter should wrap up a few loose ends.

 **Updated:02/10/2017**

* * *

 **Allure and Darkness**

 **Epilogue: Long Live the Queen**

* * *

 _BSAA Main Headquarters 1:30 P.M._

"I don't suppose you've made any progress tracking down other Tricell agents?" O'Brian asked pouring himself a drink, it was his last day in the office- he might as well finish off the whiskey he kept there for hard days.

"No, Jessica was the only shot we had- without her I don't know if anyone could infiltrate Tricell with a useful level of clearance." Raymond said from his seat on the other side of the desk.

"It can't be helped then, I guess. Just a damn shame all of that work has gone to waste." O'brian said with a shake of his head, the man set what was left of the bottle in the box containing the rest of his belongings before taking off his badge. Picking the box up, he waved for the redhead to follow him as he moved down the corridor. His resignation had not been easy on the original members of the BSAA, and it showed on the faces of the men and women he passed. "You've been a good man Raymond, better than most, and I can't really ask you to do much more although I do have on request."

"Sir?" They were moving towards the main offices for Raymond's new unit, after the FBC Raymond had been absorbed into the BSAA with ease. O'brian stopped to look at the room setting his box on the empty desk that sat opposite of Raymond's. Chris and Jill's desks sat to the left of the room, and the partners came over to speak to the man, joined by Parker as he rolled over on his wheelie chair.

"You guys are some of the best damn agents I ever had the privilege to work with, and I'm going to miss working with you."

"Can't say I'm gonna disagree with that." Parker said with a smile, joking "Don't suppose you could ask the next guy to cut back on the paperwork?"

"Funny you should mention paperwork." O'brian said rubbing his stubble. "I meant to tell you when I finalized some paper work of my own, but everything seemed to pile up on my desk when I wasn't looking- without Keith the team has been odd numbered."

It was at that moment that his phone rang, and he took a moment to answer, retrieving it from his box.

"Yeah? Okay, good- please send her up, thank you Leticia." He said hanging up. "I was going to say, I recruited a new member to even things out and take his place."

"Ah man!" Quint said from his corner. "Nobody could ever take his place though- I mean Grinder was the best, can't we just-"

The double doors opened to behind O'brian, and Quint cut himself off as the group shared a look- the Chief moved to speak the individual but it wasn't until the man turned that the group got a good look at the person in question. Familiar red hair, pale skin, short stature all pressed in a rather professional outfit that seemed out of place after the wet suit, and sling.

"This is Priscilla Kenton- I'm aware that most of you know her already?" O'brian asked with mischievous look in his eyes, and a greater portion of the group only nodded dumbly. "Good, Priss here will be support- she'll also help you cut down your paperwork load, I know you guys are a bit overloaded due to you mission and debrief times, she has glowing recommendations from her former division."

Jill didn't hesitate to pull the woman into a hug as the group attempted to greet her all at once, O'brian smiling a sly knowing smile as Raymond hung back. The older man looked at Parker, and Raymond both before speaking again.

"As I know Quint doesn't get out in the field much, I am leaving her training up to you two. Think you can look after the rookie for me?"

"Yes sir," Raymond said, finally looking her in the eye before quickly looking away, Parker moved to clap the woman on the back bracingly.

"I don't think we'll have any problems- seems to me she has a good background in bioterror situations." Parker said, before shuffling back to his desk. "Won't be out in the field for awhile yet."

"You'll always be welcome here O'brian." Chris said finally moving to shake the man's hand.

"Thank you Chris, but I think for now my job here is done." The man said grabbing his box, and tucking it under his arm. Chris snapped onto a crisp salute, and the man returned it- followed closely by the handshakes of the others and a few bracing slaps from Parker- the man was the back slapping kind.

* * *

With the help of Jill, Chris, Parker, Raymond and myself the case of the Three Queens was closed, and the truth about the Terragrigia was revealed for the world to see. But no story simply has an ending, and nothing really stops with the closing chapter. Morgan Lansdale- FBC commissioner, and terrorist was removed from his post, the FBC was subsequently dissolved. Remaining assets, and personnel were transferred to the BSAA- the BSAA of course couldn't function as it was, and was put under the jurisdiction of the United Nations.

It now functions as a anti-bioterrorism division, and naturally Jill and Chris are senior members- although they declined any promotions involved, they never really liked the idea of sitting in the background when they could be taking the fight to the enemy; they also took a much needed vacation, and no one could blame them. Jessica's true motivations were never revealed, and she was laid to rest with honors. Keith Lumley was promoted for his efforts at Valkoinen Mokki, he is currently the East African division of the BSAA. Quint Cetchum also refuse a promotion to any form of leadership position- smart man, but he maintains a steady presence in the R & D Department at the BSAA's main headquarters.

Parker Luciani had a bit of trouble getting back on his feet, but after some downtime in a good hospital he recovered and serves in the same unit as Jill and Chris. He has a new partner- some stork-man redhead whom he calls 'cadet' all the time. He actually scares most of the former FBC members because the man in question was considered to be a real hard ass, up until the FBC was dissolved anyways. Raymond Vester is quite happy with his new partner as well, and after some time settling in they became a pretty efficient team.

Clive O'brian took full responsibility for the misinformation he gave his agents, and subsequently chose to step down from his position as the head of the BSAA; he stayed in his position long enough to ensure the new BSAA was well organized and waiting for its new head. He maintains a position as advisor, and is said to be writing a detective novel from his home.

As for me? Well, I have a date Friday with a certain redhead, we may have a lot of catching up to do- five years apart doesn't do anyone favors. But I can easily say that we both feel like we've been given a second chance, and who knows what the future holds for the members of the BSAA.

The coastline was particularly gorgeous this time of year- and I took a moment to gaze out at the aquamarine waves as I waited, sun rising in the distance.

"Hey, you gonna stand there all day?" Called a familiar voice, and I turned to find the Raymond leaning up against a building as Parker approaching swiftly from the alley.

"Well, you boys took so long doing your hair I thought I might be waiting here until doomsday." I replied in snappy retort, crooked smile in place.

"Hey, you didn't have to share the bathroom with anyone." Raymond said somewhat grumpily.

"Well every time I offer you say it's 'Unprofessional, and what would the chief say you monster.'" I said adding in air quotes, giving Raymond a sassy wink.

"Ugh, god save me from love birds." Parker said walking passed me, and I followed him falling into step with Raymond behind him.

"So, what are we doing tonight brain?"

"There have been several reports of a rogue scientist attempting to get his hands on samples of the T-virus, or any derivatives in the area." Parker said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "HQ want's us to investigate, and determine if and what level of threat he might pose."

"We don't have to get on any boats do we?" I said giving both men a somewhat uneasy side eye, our current setting despite being outwardly peaceful was giving me a bit of a tick under the eye.

"No." Raymond said somewhat automatically.

"Probably not." Parker said at the same time, and I let out a little sigh- I had developed a rather unhealthy fear of larger watercraft after the Queen Zenobia. Not that anybody was really surprised, I'm sure. Smaller boats I could handle at least, but I was never going to have a honeymoon cruise that was for damn sure.

"For some reason, I am not really all that reassured."

* * *

 **End Note** : I'm sorry its so short, I was going to end it on a different note- but I decided this one would be better. Again I wanted to say thank you to my reviewers- Guest, Bloodwitch Raven, and Jkit 45. Thank you to those who have fav'd and followed, and a very big thankyou to all the people out there that came back time and time again to read. Did you know- this is the first story I've actually finished that wasn't broken into parts? Either way, I'll see if I can't magic up some nice RaymondXPriss stuff, or JillXChris.

 **Added Note: 02/10/17** I just wanted to write this really quickly before I jump to the meat of this particular tid bit- again a big thanks to everyone who followed Jill, Chris, Parker, Raymond and Priss through my story. I decided to update and edit the story as a whole after reading it initially because- well in my head as least this was much more well written. In any case, because I know it's been awhile I decided to drop this little bit for you guys, just so you know that I am definitely still writing in the Resident Evil Fandom.

* * *

 **Penumbra**

 **Prologue**

* * *

My heart pounded frantically in my chest as I raced down the well kept pathway, tripping a bit on a loose stone as I struggled to follow Ella down the trail. I wasn't use to running in the taller hiking boots that I wore, and I was regretting that greatly. This was wrong, all so horribly wrong, and getting worse by the second; the day we headed out seemed to be so normal! But it became this nightmare, and suddenly I was racing along this trail at a dangerous speed- dangerous not only because an injury while hiking could be life threatening, but because this trail led along a steep ridge and was generally avoided. My step hitched as a stitch in my side made it harder to draw breath, and I finally lost sight of my friends dirty blond hair whipping down the trail, stumbling I called out.

"Ella! Wait up! ELL!"

I was far from ready for a marathon, college students as a whole didn't do a lot of strenuous exercise, and our version of hiking was really the lazy waddling through the forest kind. To top that off I had a heavy pack on my back, which despite its well balanced contents was being suddenly just that much more unwieldy. My left foot caught on a loose stone making me do a strangely unbalanced pinwheel on the dirt of the path before my pack unbalanced me further, my hands colliding with the dirt and sliding as I ended up going down hard over the edge of a rather steep hill. I fought to cover my face as I spun- so much like I had when I would roll down hills as a child tumbling over and over, then nothing.


End file.
